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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/explorersandtravOOgree 


MEN    OF    ACHIEVEMENT 

EXPLORERS   AND 
TRAVELLERS 


GENERAL   A.  W.   GREELY,  U.S.A. 

GOLD    MEDALLIST   OF   ROYAL    GEOGRAPHICAL    SOCIETY   AND    SOCIET6    DE 
GEOGRAl'HIE,    PARIS 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

1894 


Copyright,  1893,  by 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S   SONS 


g  PREFACE 


The  compiler  of  a  series  of  sketches  of  Ameri- 
can Explorers  and  Travellers  experiences  at  the 
very  outset  a  serious  embarrassment  from  the 
superabundant  wealth  of  original  material  at  his 
command.  The  history  of  America  for  two 
hundred  years  after  the  voyage  of  Joliet  has 
been  the  history  of  courageous,  persistent,  and 
successful  exploration,  wherein  the  track  of  the 
explorer,  instantly  serving  as  a  trail  for  the  pio- 
neer, has  speedily  broadened  into  the  wagon- 
road  of  invading  immigrants. 

Explorations  and  journeys  of  such  an  extent 
as  in  other  and  older  lands  would  have  excited 
praise  and  merited  reward  have  been  so  fre- 
quent in  this  continent  as  to  pass  almost  unno- 
ticed. Hence  the  scope  of  this  modest  volume 
is  necessarily  confined  to  explorations  of  great 
importance  or  peculiar  interest,  and  when  made 
by  men  of  American  birth  who  are  no  longer 
living. 

In  deference  to  the  author's  advisers,  two  ex- 
ceptions have  been  made — Du  Chaillu  and  Stan- 
ley, Americans  by  adoption — otherwise  African 
exploration,  so  wondrously  successful  in  this 
generation  and  so  fruitful  in  its  results,  would 
have  been  unrepresented.     Again,  the  unparal- 


304^04 


4-  PBEFAGE 

leled  growth  and  progress  of  our  American  re- 
public owes  no  small  debt  to  the  wealth  of  phys- 
ical vigor  and  strong  intellectuality  contributed 
by  its  sturdy  emigrants.  These  men,  American 
in  idea,  purpose,  and  action,  whose  manhood 
outgrew  the  slow  evolution  of  freedom  in  their 
natal  country,  merit  recognition.  What  thou- 
sands of  other  naturalized  citizens  have  indus- 
trially wrought  of  the  wonderful  and  great  in 
this  country,  these  selected  representatives  have 
equalled  in  African  e;xploration. 

A  chronological  arrangement  appeared  best 
suited  to  these  sketches,  which  from  Joliet  to 
Fremont  exhibit  the  initiation,  growth,  and  de- 
velopment of  geographic  discovery  in  the  in- 
terior and  western  portions  of  the  United  States. 
Since  the  sketches  rest  very  largely  on  original 
narratives  some  current  errors  at  least  have 
been  avoided. 

Generalization  and  criticism  have  been  made 
always  with  reference  to  later  exploration,  which 
necessarily  enhances  or  diminishes  the  impor- 
tance of  any  original  work. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I.  Louis  Joliet,  Re-discoverer  of  the  Mississippi,  .         9 

II.  Peter  le  Moyne,  Sieur  d' Iberville,  Founder  of 

Louisiana, 41 

III.  Jonathan  Carver,  the  Explorer  of  Minnesota,  .       71 

IV.  Captain   Robert  Gray,   the  Discoverer  of  the  Co- 

lumbia River,   ........       88 

V.  Captain   Meriwether   Lewis  and   Lieut.   Will- 
iam  Clark,    First  Trans-Continental   Explorers  of 

the  United  States, 105 

VI.  Zebulon  Montgomery  Pike,  Explorer  of  the  Sources 

of  the  Mississippi  and  Arkansas  Rivers,     .  .         .     163 

VII.  Charles   Wilkes,    the  Discoverer   of   the   Antarctic 

Continent,         ........      194 

VIII.  John  Charles  Fremont,  the  Pathfinder,  .         .        .     212 

IX.  Elisha  Kent  Kane,  Arctic  Explorer,        .         .         .     240 

X.  Isaac  Israel  Hayes,  and  the  Open  Polar  Sea,  .     272 

XI.  Charles  Francis  Hall,  and  the  North  Pole,   .         .     293 

XII.  George  Washington  De  Long,   and  the  Siberian 

Arctic  Ocean, 312 

XIII.  Paul  Belloni  Du  Chaillu,  Discoverer  of  the  Dwarfs 

and  Gorillas, 330 

XIV.  Stanley  Africanus  and  the  Congo  Free  State,     349 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

FULL-PAGE 

FACING 

General  A.  W.  Greely,  U.  S.  A.,    .         {Frontispiece.)      page 

On  the  Shores  of  the  Pacific, 96 

A  Blackfoot  Tepee, 112 

Castle  Rock,  on  the  Columbia  River,          ,        .        .  140 

Charles  Wilkes, 194 

Paul  Belloni  du  Chaillu, 330 

Henry  M.  Stanley, 349 

ILLUSTRATIONS   IN   THE   TEXT 

PAGE 

Signature  of  Jolliet  (Old  Spelling),  .        .         .         .10 

"Marquette's  Map," 15 

The    Reception   of   Joliet   and    Marquette    by   the 

Illinois, 25 

De  Soto, 34 

Signature  of  le  Moyne, 42 

Bienville, 57 

Bienville's  Army  on  the  River, 63 

New  Orleans  in  17 19, 70 

Indian  Tomahawk, 74 

The  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  in  the  River  Mississippi,  77 

A  Calumet, 80 

Naudowessie  Indians, 85 

Indian  Maul, 93 

Captain  Meriwether  Lewis, 119 

Buffalo  Head, 125 

Lieutenant  William  Clark, 132 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  1 

PAGE 

Buffalo  Skull, 162 

General  Z.  M.  Pike, 165 

Indian  Snow-shoes, 172 

The  Ice-barrier, 199 

The  Vincennes  in  a  Storm, 202 

View  of  the  Antarctic  Continent,       ....  205 

In  an  Ice-field, 208 

John  Charles  Fr^imont, 214 

Jessie  Benton  Fremont, 215 

Ascending  Fremont's  Peak, 218 

Kit  Carson, 226 

Lake  Klamath, 231 

Elisha  Kent  Kane, 242 

The  Arctic  Highway, 246 

A  Sleeping-bag  for  Three  Men, 251 

The  Coming  Arctic  Night, 256 

Esquimau  Boys  Fishing, 260 

An  Arctic  Stream, 264 

Isaac  Israel  Hayes, 273 

Upernivik 276 

Hayes's  Winter-quarters, 280 

Adrift  on  a  Berg, 285 

Charles  Francis  Hall, 294 

Igloos,  or  Esquimau  Huts, 299 

In  Winter-quarters 302 

An  Arctic  Fiord, 305 

A  Woman   of  the    Arctic    Highlanders.      Sketched 

from  Life, 308 

Esquimau  Woman.     Sketched  from  Life,      .        .        .310 

George  Washington  De  Long, 313 

Herald  Island, 317 

In  the  Pack, 321 

Where  the  Bodies  were  Found, 323 


8  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

noros  and  nindemann, 326 

Finding  the  Bodies, 328 

The  Gorilla  (Troglodytes  Gorilla),     ....  334 

A  Village  of  Dwarfs, 339 

A  Pigmy  Warrior, 342 

A  Dwarf  Prisoner, 345 

Arrows  of  the  African  Pigmies, 348 

The  Hut  where  Livingstone  Died 352 

Map  showing  Position  and  Boundaries  of  the  Congo 

State, 355 

Tippu  Tib, 359 

Emin  Pasha, 363 

Finding  Nelson  in  Distress  at  Starvation  Camp,      .  366 

A  Stockaded  Camp, 370 

RuwENZORi    (The    Snowy    Mountain),    Identified    by 

Stanley  with  "The  Mountains  of  the  Moon,"  .  372 


EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 
I. 

LOUIS  JOLIET, 

Re-discoverer  of  the  Mississippi. 

■  If  one  should  ask  which  is  the  most  important 
river  basin  in  the  world,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  Mississippi  would  be  named,  with  its  million 
and  a  quarter  square  miles  of  area  and  its  twenty- 
five  or  more  billions  of  aggregated  wealth.  Fa- 
vored in  climate,  soil,  and  navigable  streams,  and 
endowed  with  practically  inexhaustible  veins  of 
coal,  copper,  iron,  and  silver,  feeding  the  world 
with  its  hundreds  of  millions  of  bushels  of  corn  and 
wheat,  and  clothing  it  by  other  millions  of  bales 
of  cotton,  it  is  hardly  so  astonishing  that  within 
217  years  from  its  discovery  by  Joliet  this  great- 
est of  river  basins  should  be  the  abiding-place 
of  twenty-seven  and  a  half  millions  of  people. 

Speaking  of  Joliet,  Bancroft  wrote  that  his 
short  voyage  brought  him  immortality ;  but  in 
the  irony  of  fate  his  explorations  have  not  even 
given  his  name  a  place  in  the  last  edition  of  the 
Encyclopaedia  Britannica.  In  writing  on  Ameri- 
can explorers,  it  seems  most  fitting  that  this  se- 


10  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

ries  of  sketches  should  be  headed  by  this  Cana- 
dian, whose  name  is  scarcely  known  by  one  in  a 
thousand.  That  aught  is  obtainable  concerning 
the  details  of  his  life  is  due  to  the  investigations 

of  Shea,  which 
later  were  admira- 
bly summed  up  by 
Park  man. 

Louis  Joliet,  the 
,       ,r.,,  .   ,     .  son  of  John  Joliet 

Signature  of  Jolliet  (Old   Spelling). 

and  Mary  d'Aban- 
cour,  was  born  at  Quebec,  September  21,  1645. 
His  father  was  a  wagon-maker,  in  the  service  of 
the  Company  of  One  Hundred  Associates,  then 
owners  of  Canada. 

The  son  in  youth  was  imbued  with  devout 
feelings,  which,  possibly  fostered  by  the  elder 
Joliet  as  certain  to  bring  station  and  influence  in 
manhood,  led  to  his  being  educated  in  the  Jesuit 
College  for  the  priesthood,  in  which  indeed  he 
received  the  minor  orders  in  1662.  Four  years 
later,  in  the  debates  on  philosophy,  which  were 
participated  in  by  the  Intendant  and  listened  to 
by  the  colonial  dignitaries,  Joliet  showed  such 
skill  as  to  elicit  especial  commendation  from  the 
Fathers. 

His  future  career  shows  that  his  studies  with 
the  Fathers  were  not  lost  on  him,  and  doubtless 
they  contributed  largely  to  make  Joliet  that 
intelligent,  well-poised  leader  who  filled  with 
credit  all  duties  and  positions  incident  to  his 
varied  and  adventurous  life. 

It  is  probable,  however,  that  during  all  these 


LOUIS  JOLIET  11 

years  he  was  at  heart  a  true  voyageur,  and  that 
his  thoughts  turned  continually  from  the  cloister 
and  books  to  the  forest  and  its  attractive  life. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  he  practically  abandoned  all 
ideas  of  the  priesthood  at  the  age  of  twenty-two, 
and  turned  to  the  most  certain,  and  indeed,  in 
Canada,  the  only  path  to  wealth,  that  of  a  trader 
in  furs  with  the  Indians.  In  this  trade  only  the 
hardy,  shrewd,  intelligent,  and  tireless  subordi- 
nate could  hope  to  thrive  and  rise.  Success 
meant  long  and  hazardous  journeys  into  the  very 
heart  of  the  Indian  country,  where  were  needed 
great  physical  courage  and  strength,  perfect  skill 
with  gun,  paddle,  axe,  sledge,  or  snow-shoe,  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  wood-craft,  indomitable 
will  or  casuistry  and  tact  according  to  the  occa- 
sion. To  paddle  a  canoe  from  sunrise  to  sunset 
of  a  summer  day,  to  follow  the  sledge  or  break  a 
snow-shoe  path  before  it  as  far  as  a  dog  can 
travel  in  a  march,  to  track  a  moose  or  deer  for 
leagues  without  rest,  to  carry  canoes  and  heavy 
packs  over  long  portages  through  an  untrav- 
elled  country,  were  the  ordinary  experiences  of 
a  voyageur,  which  were  accomplished  for  the 
great  part  on  a  diet  of  smoked  meat  and  boiled 
Indian  corn,  with  no  shelter  in  fair  weather  and 
the  cover  of  an  upturned  canoe  or  bark  hut  in 
stress  of  storm. 

Joliet  did  not  long  remain  in  private  adventure, 
for  in  1669  Talon,  then  Intendant  of  Canada,  sent 
him  to  discover  and  explore  the  copper-mines  of 
Lake  Superior,  in  which  quest  he  failed.  It  was 
on  his  return  trip  that  Joliet  met  with  La  Salle 


12  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

and  the  priests  Dolier  and  Galinee,  on  Septem- 
ber 24,  1669,  near  the  present  town  of  Hamilton, 
in  which  direction  Joliet's  Indian  guide  had  mis- 
led him  when  returning  from  Lake  Erie,  through 
fear  of  meeting  enemies  at  the  Niagara  portage. 

Joliet's  facility  for  map-making  in  the  field  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that  at  this  time  he  showed 
to  the  priests  with  La  Salle  a  copy  of  the  map 
that  he  had  made  of  such  parts  of  the  upper 
lakes  as  he  had  visited,  and  gave  them  a  copy  of 
it.  He  moreover  evidenced  continued  interest 
in  religious  matters  by  telling  them  that  the 
Pottowattamies  and  other  Indian  tribes  of  that 
region  were  in  serious  need  of  spiritual  succor. 
La  Salle  later,  in  November,  1680,  repaid  this 
frank  tender  of  information  of  the  little-known 
west  by  intimating  his  belief  that  Joliet  never 
went  but  little  south  of  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois, 
and  is  also  stated  to  have  declared  that  Joliet 
was  an  impostor. 

In  his  account  of  La  Salle's  last  journey. 
Father  Douay,  referring  to  Joliet's  discoveries  as 
related  by  Marquette,  says :  "  I  have  brought 
with  me  the  printed  book  of  this  pretended  dis- 
covery, and  I  remarked  all  along  my  route  that 
there  was  not  a  word  of  truth  in  it." 

The  efforts  to  deprive  Joliet  of  the  credit  of 
the  original  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  falls  be- 
fore the  despatch  of  Count  Frontenac  to  Colbert, 
then  Minister,  dated  Quebec,  November  14,  1674: 
"  VI.  Sieur  Joliet,  whom  Monsieur  Talon  advised 
me,  on  my  arrival  from  France,  to  despatch  for 
the  discovery  of   the  South   Sea,  has  returned 


LOUIS  JO  LIST  13 

three  months  ago,  and  discovered  some  very  fine 
country,  and  a  navigation  so  easy  through  the 
beautiful  rivers  he  has  found,  that  a  person  can 
go  from  Lake  Ontario  and  Fort  Frontenac  in  a 
bark  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  there  being  only  one 
carrying-place,  half  a  league  in  length,  where 
Lake  Ontario  communicates  with  Lake  Erie. 
.  .  .  He  has  been  within  ten  days  of  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  ...  I  send  you  by  my  secretary 
the  map  he  has  made  of  it.  .  .  .  He  has  lost 
all  his  minutes  and  journals  in  the  shipwreck  he 
suffered  in  sight  of  Montreal.  .  .  .  He  left 
with  the  Fathers  at  Sault  St.  Marie  copies  of  his 
journal." 

But  to  return  to  the  circumstances  under 
which  Joliet  made  the  voyage.  Among  other 
orders  of  Louis  XIV.  regarding  Canada  was  a 
charge  to  discover  the  South  Sea  and  Missis- 
sippi, and  Jean  Talon,  Intendant  of  Canada,  lost 
no  chance  of  furthering  this  object.  La  Salle's 
journey  of  1670  had  failed  to  reach  the  great 
river,  though  he  descended  the  Ohio  to  the  falls 
at  Louisville,  and  at  his  recall  in  1672  Talon  had 
the  subject  of  further  exploration  in  hand.  Joliet 
had  lately  returned  from  his  unsuccessful  efforts 
to  discover  copper  mines  on  Lake  Superior, 
during  which  he  had  probably  been  the  first 
white  man  to  pass  through  the  Straits  of  Detroit. 
Despite  his  late  failure  he  had  impressed  Talon 
as  the  man  best  fitted  to  lead  such  an  expedition, 
and  so  before  sailing  for  France  the  Intendant 
recommended  Joliet  for  the  work  to  Count 
Frontenac,  the  new  Governor. 


14  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

In  those  days  the  Church  and  Government 
went  hand  in  hand,  and  but  few  French  expedi- 
tions went  westward  from  Montreal  without  a 
priest  to  carry  the  faith  to  such  Indian  tribes  as 
were  aUies  of  France  or  liable  to  be  won  over. 
As  Joliet's  priest-associate,  James  Marquette,  a 
young  Jesuit,  then  a  missionary  at  St.  Esprit,  La 
Pointe,  Lake  Superior,  was  chosen. 

No  better  man  could  have  been  sent.  Mar- 
quette was  in  the  prime  of  life,  an  expert  linguist 
— as  he  had  learned  in  six  years  to  speak  fluently 
six  Indian  languages — gentle,  patient,  and  tactful 
with  the  natives,  devout  in  faith,  singularly  holy 
in  life,  fearless,  imaginative,  nature-loving  and 
observant,  as  shown  by  his  journal,  which,  owing 
to  Joliet's  shipwreck,  is  the  only  original  story 
of  the  voyage.  His  enthusiasm  is  shown  by  the 
opening  sentences  of  his  journal :  "  I  have  ob- 
tained from  God  the  favor  of  being  enabled  to 
visit  the  nations  on  the  Mississippi  River,  .  .  . 
and  find  myself  in  the  happy  necessity  of  expos- 
ing my  life  for  the  salvation  of  all  these  tribes, 
especially  the  Illinois." 

Joliet  followed  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Fort  Fron- 
tenac,  at  the  entrance  of  Lake  Ontario,  and  with 
the  exception  of  the  portage  at  the  Falls  of 
Niagara,  skirted  in  his  canoe  the  shores  of  the 
Great  Lakes  until  he  reached  the  Straits  of  Mack- 
inaw, on  the  north  side  of  which,  at  Point  St. 
Ignace,  he  found  the  enthusiastic  Marquette  de- 
votedly laboring  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
Hurons  and  Ottawas  there  gathered. 

The  contemplated  line  of  travel  was  that  of 


A  Part  of  the  Map  Published  in  Paris  by  Thevenot  as  "  Marquette's  Map."  It  shows  the  route  taken  by 
Joliet  across  Wisconsin  from  the  Baie  des  Puans  (now  Green  Bay)  to  the  Mississippi  River,  also  part 
of  the  return  journey,  that  is,  from  the  present  site  of  Chicago,  northward  along  Lake  Michigan. 


16  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

Jean  Nicollet,  an  interpreter  who  had  spent  many- 
years  with  the  Indian  tribes,  who  was  sent  in 
1638  to  bring  about  a  peace  between  the  Hurons 
and  Winnebagoes  who  lived  near  Green  Bay. 
After  his  negotiations  he  ascended  the  Fox  River, 
and  making  a  portage  to  the  Wisconsin,  de- 
scended that  stream  some  distance,  so  that,  as  he 
thought,  from  the  designation  of  "the  great 
water  "  by  the  Indian  guide  to  the  Mississippi,  he 
was  within  three  days  of  the  South  Sea. 

Joliet,  however,  was  too  practical  to  trust 
entirely  to  tradition  or  oral  description.  He  had 
already  carefully  charted  all  that  was  definitely 
known  of  the  western  lake  regions,  and  now  at 
St.  Ignace,  with  Marquette's  invaluable  assist- 
ance, gathered  all  possible  information  from  such 
Indians  at  the  mission  as  had  frequented  the  un- 
known country.  This  information  being  duly 
weighed  and  considered,  Joliet  extended  his  map 
to  cover  all  the  new  country,  marking  thereon 
the  navigable  rivers,  the  names  of  nations  and 
villages  along  their  proposed  route,  the  course  of 
the  great  river,  and  other  useful  information. 

Their  means  of  subsistence  and  travel  were  the 
simplest  imaginable,  two  canoes  and  as  large 
quantities  of  smoked  meat  and  Indian  corn  as 
could  be  conveniently  carried.  Their  canoes 
were  of  the  usual  Canadian  pattern,  of  birch-bark 
covering,  stayed  with  spruce-root  ribs  and  cedar- 
splint,  with  white-pine  pitch  smeared  over  the 
birch-bark  joints  so  as  to  render  them  water- 
tight. Such  canoes  were  of  astonishing  strength 
and  carrying  capacity,  and  of  such  lightness  that 


LOUIS  JOLIET  17 

four  men  could  carry  the  largest  across  por- 
tages. 

On  a  bright  spring  morning,  May  17th,  Joliet 
and  Marquette,  with  five  other  men,  left  behind 
them  the  palisaded  post  and  chapel  of  St.  Ignace. 
Plying  briskly  their  paddles  from  sunrise  to  sun- 
set, they  made  rapid  progress,  coasting  the  lake 
shore  until  they  turned  aside  to  visit  the  Menom- 
inees,  or  Wild-rice  Indians,  whose  village  was  on 
the  river  of  that  same  name.  Here  inquiries  for 
information  of  the  "great  river"  brought  from 
the  savage  allies  strenuous  efforts  to  dissuade 
them  from  visiting  this  Mississippi,  where,  they 
said,  the  unsparing  ferocity  of  the  tribes  brought 
unfailing  death  by  the  tomahawk  to  even  inoffen- 
sive strangers,  and  that  war  now  raged  among 
the  intervening  nations.  They  further  recited 
the  dangers  of  navigating  the  rapids  of  the  Great 
River,  the  presence  of  frightful  water  monsters 
who  swallowed  up  men  and  canoes,  the  roaring 
demon  who  engulfed  all  travellers,  and  lastly  the 
existence  of  such  excessive  heat  as  to  ensure  cer- 
tain death.  After  religious  instruction  and  ser- 
vice the  explorers  embarked  in  their  canoes  and 
soon  reached  the  southern  extremity  of  Green 
Bay,  where,  says  Marquette,  "  our  fathers  labor 
successfully  in  the  conversion  of  these  tribes,  hav- 
ing baptized  more  than  2,000." 

Joliet  from  Green  Bay  entered  Fox  River, 
finding  it  a  gentle,  beautiful  stream,  promising 
easy  and  pleasant  passage  and  abounding  in  wild- 
fowl. Soon,  however,  these  agreeable  aspects 
gave  way  to  the  sterner  phases  of  exploration, 


18  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

for  sharp  rapids  were  fallen  in  with  where  the 
strong  and  uncertain  cross-currents  often  threat- 
ened the  total  destruction  of  their  frail  canoes, 
which  would  have  proved  fatal  to  their  plans,  by 
dashing  them  against  the  sharp  bowlders. 

A  serious  but  lesser  evil  to  these  enduring  voy- 
agers was  the  injury  to  their  mocassin-shod  feet, 
which  were  cut  and  bruised  by  the  sharp  edges 
of  the  rocky  bed  of  the  river  over  which  they 
slowly  and  painfully  dragged  their  canoes  for 
long  distances. 

The  many  rapids  were  safely  passed,  and  on  the 
7th  of  June,  1673,  our  explorers  reached  an  Indian 
town  which  marked  the  extreme  western  limits 
of  French  discoveries,  being  the  farthest  point 
reached  by  Nicollet  in  his  adventurous  journey. 

In  this  town  dwelt  bands  from  three  different 
tribes,  the  Miamis,  Maskoutens,  or  Fire  Nation, 
and  Kickapoos.  The  latter  two  were  inferior  in 
manners  and  appearance  to  the  Miamis,  who,  more 
civil,  liberal,  and  well-made,  wore  two  long  ear- 
locks  that  Marquette  thought  becoming ;  besides 
they  were  reputed  warriors,  who  rarely  failed  in 
their  forays.  They  proved  docile,  attentive,  and 
interested  in  religious  matters,  as  was  shown  not 
only  by  their  talk  with  Father  Allouez,  but  also 
by  a  cross  standing  in  the  centre  of  the  town, 
which  was  adorned  with  votive  offerings  of  skins, 
belts,  bows  and  arrows  to  the  Great  Manitou  for 
an  abundance  of  game  during  the  dreaded  famine 
time  of  winter. 

The  Indians  used  for  their  beds  mats,  probably 
made  of  rushes,  which  in  default  of  bark  also 


LOUIS  JOLIET  19 

served  as  material  for  the  walls  and  roofs  of  their 
unsubstantial  shelters.  Since  Marquette  refers 
to  the  advantage  of  such  building  material  as 
capable  of  being  rolled  up  and  easily  moved 
during  hunts,  it  is  probable  that  this  town  was 
of  a  temporary  character.  It  appears  to  have 
been  well  located,  being  on  an  eminence,  whence 
the  approach  of  an  enemy  or  the  presence  of 
game  could  be  readily  observed  in  the  open 
countr}'.  Marquette  says  of  it :  "  The  view  is 
beautiful  and  very  picturesque,  for  from  the 
eminence  on  which  it  is  perched  are  seen 
stretching  out  on  every  side,  as  far  as  eye  can 
reach,  prairies  broken  by  thickets  or  groves  of 
lofty  trees."  The  Indians  grew  much  corn,  and 
gathered  wild  plums  and  "  grapes,  from  which," 
his  thoughts  turning  to  home,  he  says,  "  good 
wine  could  be  made  if  they  chose." 

Joliet  lost  no  time,  but  immediately  on  arrival 
assembled  the  sachems  and  told  them  that  he 
was  sent  by  his  Governor  to  discover  new  coun- 
tries. He  made  them  a  present  and  asked  that 
two  guides  be  sent  to  show  him  the  way,  which 
resulted  in  the  gift  to  Joliet  of  a  mat  to  serve  as 
a  bed,  and  the  sending  of  two  Miamis  as  guides. 

The  next  day,  June  loth,  they  proceeded,  two 
Miamis  and  seven  Frenchmen  in  two  canoes,  up 
the  river  to  the  portage,  through  a  net-work  of 
marshes,  little  lakes,  and  meandering  channels 
so  hidden  by  the  wild  rice  that  their  guides  were 
very  useful.  Conducting  Joliet  to  a  portage  of 
2,700  paces,  and  assisting  in  the  transportation  of 
the  canoes  across  it,  the  Miamis  then  returned, 


20  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

leaving  the  explorers  "  alone  in  an  unknown 
country,  in  the  hands  of  Providence." 
/Before  launching  their  canoes  into  strange 
waters,  which  were  to  bear  them  into  unknown 
lands,  they  knelt  on  the  bank  and  offered  up  de- 
A  vout  aspirations  to  God  for  continued  success. 
The  new  river  was  the  Weskousing  (Wisconsin), 
whose  broad  shallows  and  sandy  bottom,  while 
rendering  navigation  slow  and  very  laborious, 
yet  contrasted  delightfully  with  the  rocky  rapids 
of  the  Fox^ 

Father  Marquette  sets  forth    delightfully  the 
ideal  voyage  down  this   stream,  past   vine-clad 
islets,  along  sloping  banks,  now  bordered  by  the 
lovely   prairie,    with   its    sweet   odors   of   fresh 
grasses  and  blooming  flowers,  and  anon  fringed 
sL         by  the  primeval  forest,  beautiful  with  its  tangle 
.^       of  shrubbery  and  in  its  June  foliage.    The  gnarled 
oak,  the  straight  walnut,  the  elegant  whitewood, 
and  other  stately  trees  of  unknown  species  met 
_^     their   vision   at   times,    while    again   their   eyes 
/  ^-^     scarcely  separated  from  the  heavens  the  distant 
horizon  of  the   green  level  plains,  whose  luxu- 
riant vegetation  afforded  the  richest  pasturage 
for  numerous  herds  of  deer  and  moose,  and  in 
spots  showed  the  fertility  of  its  alluvial  soil  by 
the  fields  of  Indian  corn. 

Each  morning,  before  they  relaunched  their 
canoes,  they  attuned  their  voices  to  the  praise  of 
God,  and,  in  their  unique  joy  of  successful  dis- 
covery, must  have  felt  on  those  delightful  June 
days  that  their  devotions  had  not  been  uplifted  in 
vain.     From  sunrise  to  sunset  they  labored  un- 


LOUIS  JOLIET  21 

ceasingly,  now  paddling  briskly  along-  the  deep 
reaches,  and  then  struggling  stoutly  through 
mazes  of  shallows  and  sand-bars,  where  tedious 
and  frequent  portages  were  patiently  made. 

Each  evening  their  hearts  rejoiced  and  their 
tired  limbs  found  delightful  repose  at  some  spot 
where  Joliet's  judgment  directed  the  canoes  to 
be  drawn  out,  inspected,  and  upturned  by  some, 
while  others  started  the  camp-fire  and  prepared 
the  evening  meal.  This  camp  was  always  so 
placed  that  the  approach  of  an  enemy  could  be 
seen  from  afar,  and  where  fuel  for  fire  and 
branches  for  bedding  were  at  hand.  The  best 
hunter  was  told  off  for  game,  and  rarely  did  the 
meal  lack  fresh  meat  or  fruit  and  berries  in 
season.  After  supper  the  soothing  pipe,  prayers 
and  songs  of  praise,  and  then  under  the  over- 
arching trees  such  sound  slumber  as  only  comes 
to  men  sleeping  under  the  open  sky. 

As  they  advanced  it  was  often  possible  to  use 
sail  and  relieve  the  men  to  some  extent  from  the 
fatigue  of  the  paddle,  and  such  rapid  progress 
was  made  that,  on  June  17th,  they  safely  entered 
the  long-desired  Mississippi,  "  with  a  joy,"  writes 
Marquette,  "  which  I  cannot  express."  They 
were  then  in  latitude  43°  03'  N.,  opposite  the 
site  of  the  present  city  of  Prairie  du  Chien. 

Turning  eagerly  southward,  their  progress 
facilitated  by  the  gentle  current  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, they  journeyed  more  than  a  hundred 
leagues  without  seeing  on  the  land  aught  save 
birds  and  beasts.  The  solitude  of  the  great 
river   appalled  them  :    a  vast  torrent  of  rolling 


22       EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

water,  bordered  by  forest  and  plain,  so  well  fitted 
for  the  happiness  of  man,  and  yet  no  human 
being  in  all  this  land  !  What  could  it  mean,  and 
what  would  be  the  outcome  ?  Joliet,  of  long  ex- 
perience with  savage  tribes,  and  astute  in  forest 
craft,  distrusted  the  silence  and  solitude,  and 
kept  as  keen  guard  as  though  on  the  war-path. 
A  tiny  camp-fire  was  built  only  for  meals,  and 
the  nights  were  passed  in  the  crowded  canoes 
as  far  from  shore  as  it  was  possible  to  anchor 
them  in  the  deep  river.  Even  then  strict  watch 
was  kept,  and  every  strange  or  unusual  noise 
excited  feelings  of  trepidation  lest  a  hidden  foe 
be  the  cause. 

Their  journey  by  day  was  not  entirely  de- 
void of  incident  and  excitement,  says  Mar- 
quette. "  From  time  to  time  we  met  monstrous 
fishes,  one  of  which  struck  the  canoe  so  violently 
I  took  it  for  a  large  tree.  Another  time  we 
perceived  on  the  water  a  monster  [probably  an 
American  tiger-cat]  with  a  head  like  a  tiger  and 
a  pointed  snout  like  the  wild-cat,  with  beard  and 
ears  erect,  a  grayish  head,  and  entirely  black 
neck."  They  cast  their  nets  successfully,  and 
once  caught  a  spade-fish,  whose  appearance 
caused  much  astonishment.  In  41°  28'  N.  lati- 
tude (near  Rock  Island),  wild  turkeys  took  the 
place  of  wild  fowl ;  while  as  to  animals,  only 
buffalo  were  seen,  being  so  numerous  and  fear- 
less as  to  be  easily  killed,  and  thus  offering  a  wel- 
come change  of  food.  These  new  beasts  presented 
themselves  to  our  explorers  as  hideous,  especially 
those  with  thick,  long  manes  falling  over  their 


LOUIS  JOLIET  23 

eves  in  such  tangles  as  to  prevent  their  seeing- 
clearly.  Marquette  records  that  the  Indians  tan 
buffalo-skins  into  beautiful  robes,  which  they  paint 
into  various  colors;  and  further  recites  the  fe- 
rocity of  the  buffalo  as  yearly  causing  the  death 
of  some  Indian.  When  near  the  present  city  of 
Keokuk,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Moines  River, 
on  June  25th,  they  perceived  the  first  signs  of 
man  in  all  this  solitude :  foot-prints  by  the  river- 
side, and  then  a  beaten  path,  which,  entering  a 
beautiful  prairie,  impressed  them  as  leading  to 
some  Indian  village. 

They  had  journeyed  seventeen  days  without 
seeing  the  face  of  man,  and  so,  after  deliberation, 
they  resolved  to  visit  the  village ;  this  decision 
doubtless  being  lirged  by  Marquette,  who  for 
years  had  sought  by  prayer  "  to  obtain  of  God 
the  grace  to  be  able  to  visit  the  nations  on  the 
river  Mississippi,"  and  who  now  would  allow  no 
danger  to  deter  him.  Joliet  was  fully  aware  of 
the  great  risk,  and  took  most  careful  precautions 
to  ensure  the  safety  of  their  canoes  and  people 
by  charging  them  strictly  to  beware  of  sur- 
prise, while  he  and  Marquette  ventured  to  put 
themselves  at  the  discretion  of  an  unknown 
savage  people.  /  Cautiously  following  the  little 
path  in  silence  across  the  beautiful  prairie  and 
through  the  thickets  for  a  distance  of  two 
leagues,  they  suddenly  came  in  view  of  an  Indian 
village,  picturesquely  placed  on  a  river  bank, 
and  overlooked  by  two  others  on  a  neighboring 
hill ;  they  pressed  on  with  successful  caution 
and    silence,    but    with    much    doubt   and    fear.  1, 


24  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

Having,  as  Marquette  sajs,  "  recommended  our- 
selves to  God  with  all  our  hearts,"  and  "  having 
implored  his  help,  we  passed  on  undiscovered, 
and  came  so  near  we  even  heard  the  Indians 
talking."  Stepping  into  the  open,  they  halted 
and  announced  themselves  by  a  loud  cry ;  at 
which  the  Indians  rushed  out  of  their  cabins,  and 
recognizing  them  as  French,  and  seeing  a  "  Black- 
gown  "  (the  well-known  Indian  name  for  a  Jesuit), 
sent  four  of  their  chief  warriors  forward.  Two 
chiefs,  carrying  calumets,  or  tobacco-pipes,  elab- 
orately trimmed  with  various  feathers,  advanced 
very  slowly  and  in  silence,  lifting  their  calumets 
as  if  offering  them  for  the  sun  to  smoke.  Mar- 
quette, encouraged  by  their  friendly  attitude,  and 
still  more  on  seeing  that  they  wore  French  cloth, 
broke  the  silence ;  to  which  the  Indians  answered 
that  they  were  Illinois,  who,  in  token  of  peace, 
presented  their  pipes  to  smoke  and  invited  the 
strangers  to  their  village. 

Joliet  and  Marquette  were  received  at  the  door 
of  a  wigwam,  as  was  usual  for  strangers,  by  an 
old  chief,  who  stood  perfectly  naked,  with  out- 
stretched hands  raised  toward  the  sun,  as  if  to 
screen  himself  from  its  rays,  which  nevertheless 
passed  through  the  open  fingers  to  his  face.  As 
they  came  near  him,  he  said :  "  How  beautiful  is 
the  sun,  O  Frenchmen,  when  thou  comest  to  visit 
us.  All  our  town  awaits  thee,  and  thou  shalt 
enter  all  our  cabins  in  peace."  After  smoking  the 
calumet,  they  went  by  invitation  to  visit  the  Great 
Sachem  of  all  Illinois,  at  a  near  village.  With 
good  nature  and  childish  curiosity,  a  throng  of 


26  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

Indians  went  along,  and  says  Marquette,  "  could 
not  tire  looking  at  us ;  they  threw  themselves  on 
the  grass  by  the  wayside ;  they  ran  ahead,  then 
turned  and  walked  back  to  see  us  again,  all  in  si- 
lence, with  marks  of  great  respect."  They  were 
received  by  the  Great  Sachem  and  two  old  chiefs, 
all  naked  and  with  their  calumet  turned  to  the 
sun.  After  smoking  the  calumet,  Marquette, 
speaking  in  Algonquin,  said  that  they  marched  in 
peace  to  visit  the  nations  on  the  river  to  the  sea; 
that  God  their  Creator  had  pity,  and  had  sent  his 
messenger  to  make  him  known  as  their  Creator, 
whom  they  should  acknowledge  and  obey ;  that 
Frontenac  had  spread  peace  everywhere  ;  and 
last  asked  for  all  the  information  they  had  of  the 
sea  and  the  nations  between  them  and  it. 

The  Sachem  answered  in  a  beautiful  speech 
worthy  of  the  occasion  : 

"  I  thank  thee,  Blackgown,  and  thee.  French- 
man," addressing  M.  Joliet,  "  for  taking  so  much 
pains  to  come  and  visit  us ;  never  has  the  earth 
been  so  beautiful,  nor  the  sun  so  bright,  as  to-day ; 
never  has  our  river  been  so  calm,  nor  so  free  from 
rocks,  which  your  canoes  have  removed  as  they 
passed;  never  has  our  tobacco  had  so  fine  a 
flavor,  nor  our  corn  appeared  so  beautiful  as  we 
behold  it  to  day.  Here  is  my  son,  that  I  give 
thee,  that  thou  mayst  know  my  heart.  I  pray 
thee  to  take  pity  on  me  and  all  my  nation.  Thou 
knowest  the  Great  Spirit,  who  has  made  us  all ; 
thou  speakest  to  him  and  hearest  his  words :  ask 
him  to  give  me  life  and  health,  and  come  and 
dwell  with  us,  that  we  may  know  him." 


LOUIS  JOLIET  27 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  condition  of  the 
Illinois  when  first  visited.  Their  chiefs  wore 
over  the  left  shoulder  a  belt,  ingeniously  made 
of  the  hair  of  bear  and  buffalo,  which  passed 
around  the  waist  and  ended  in  a  long  fringe  ; 
arm,  knee,  and  wrist  bands  of  deer  or  buffalo- 
skin,  and  the  rattles  of  deer  hoofs  were  also  worn, 
and  the  face  was  painted  with  red  ochre.  In  ad- 
dition to  abundant  game,  they  raised  beans,  mel- 
ons, squashes,  and  Indian  corn.  Their  dishes  were 
of  wood,  their  spoons  of  the  bones  of  buffalo, 
their  knives  stone,  their  arms,  bows  and  arrows 
with  an  occasional  gun  bought  from  other  tribes. 

The  word  calumet  is  due  to  Father  Marquette, 
and  his  description  of  this  interesting  Indian 
pipe  and  its  uses  among  the  Indians  over  two 
hundred  years  ago  is  best  given  in  his  own  words : 

"  It  now  remains  for  me  to  speak  of  the  calu- 
met, than  which  there  is  nothing  among  them 
more  m3'Sterious  or  more  esteemed.  Men  do 
not  pay  to  the  crowns  and  sceptres  of  kings  the 
honor  they  pay  to  it.  It  seems  to  be  the  god  of 
peace  and  war,  the  arbiter  of  life  and  death. 
Carry  it  about  you  and  show  it,  and  you  can 
march  fearlessly  amid  enemies,  who  even  in  the 
heat  of  battle  lay  down  their  arms  when  it  is 
shown.  Hence  the  Illinois  gave  me  one,  to  serve 
as  my  safeguard  amid  all  the  nations  that  I  had 
to  pass  on  my  voyage.  There  is  a  calumet  for 
peace  and  one  for  war,  distinguished  only  by  the 
color  of  the  feathers  with  which  they  are  adorned, 
red  being  the  sign  of  war.  They  use  them 
also  for  settling  disputes,  strengthening  alliances, 


28  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

and  speaking  to  strangers.  It  is  made  of  a  pol- 
ished red  stone,  like  marble,  so  pierced  that  one 
end  serves  to  hold  the  tobacco,  while  the  other 
is  fastened  on  the  stem,  which  is  a  stick  two  feet 
long,  as  thick  as  a  common  cane,  and  pierced  in 
the  middle  ;  it  is  ornamented  with  the  head  and 
neck  of  different  birds  of  beautiful  plumage ; 
they  also  add  large  feathers  of  red  and  green 
and  other  colors,  with  which  it  is  all  covered. 
They  esteem  it  peculiarly,  because  they  regard 
it  as  the  calumet,  or  pipe,  of  the  sun  ;  and,  in 
fact,  they  present  it  to  him  to  smoke  when  they 
wish  to  obtain  calm,  or  rain,  or  fair  weather." 

Leaving  the  Illinois  one  afternoon,  about  the 
end  of  June,  they  embarked  in  sight  of  the  whole 
admiring  tribe,  and,  following  the  river,  reached 
the  mouth  of  the  muddy  Missouri.  They  were 
the  first  white  men  who  had  ever  gazed  on  the 
turbulent  waters  of  this  mighty  stream.  Im- 
pressed by  the  size  and  majesty  of  the  Missouri 
Marquette  believed  and  hoped  that  later,  by 
making  a  prairie  portage  of  twenty  or  thirty 
leagues,  he  could  reach  a  deep  westerly  running 
river  that  would  carry  him  to  the  Red  Sea  (the 
Gulf  of  California). 

The  Missouri,  or  Pekitanoui,  as  Marquette 
called  it,  was  evidently  at  the  flood  stage,  for  he 
says :  "A  mass  of  large  trees,  entire  with  branches, 
real  floating  islands,  came  rushing  from  the 
mouth  of  the  river  so  impetuously  that  we  could 
not  pass  across  without  exposing  ourselves  to 
great  danger.  The  agitation  was  so  great  that 
the  water  was  all  muddy." 


LOUIS  JOLIET  29 

Immediately  above  the  site  of  Alton,  III.,  they 
came  in  sight  of  the  famous  Piasa  pictograph, 
which  was  totally  destroyed  about  fifty  years 
ago.  Of  it  Marquette  wrote  :  "  As  we  coasted 
along  rocks,  frightful  for  their  height  and  length, 
we  saw  painted  thereon  two  monsters,  which 
startled  us  at  first,  and  on  which  the  bold- 
est Indian  dare  not  gaze  long.  They  have  a 
fearful  look,  are  as  large  as  a  calf,  have  red  eyes, 
the  horns  of  a  deer,  the  beard  of  a  tiger,  and  the 
face  of  a  man,  while  around  the  scale-covered 
body  was  a  fish's  tail  twice  encircling  it.  The 
two  monsters  were  very  well  painted  in  green, 
red,  and  black  colors,  and  so  high  upon  the 
rocks  that  they  were  apparently  inaccessible  to 
man." 

Later  they  discovered  a  very  rich  iron-mine  of 
many  veins,  one  a  foot  thick,  and  large  masses  of 
metal  combined  with  pebbles  ;  also  purple,  violet, 
and  red  clay,  which  colored  the  water  a  blood 
red.  They  now  passed  the  dreaded  home  of  the 
Manitou,  or  demon,  who  devours  all  who  pass  ; 
which  proved  to  be  a  frightful  rapid  where  large 
detached  rocks  and  a  narrow  channel  caused  a 
furious  commotion  of  the  waters  tumbling  over 
each  other,  and  a  tremendous  roaring,  which 
struck  terror  to  the  Indian's  heart.  Passing 
this,  they  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  which 
Marquette  calls  "  Ouaboukidou,"  on  which  there 
were  no  less  than  thirty-eight  villages  of  the 
Chaouanons  (Shawnees).  A  little  beyond,  Mar- 
quette's eye  was  delighted  by  the  appearance  of 
breaks,  wherein  the  canes  were  of  an  exquisite 


30  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

green,  with  knots  crowned  by  long,  narrow- 
pointed  leaves.  At  ever}-  landing  the  keen  eyes 
of  the  Canadian  explorers  searched  out  every- 
thing that  was  new  or  that  seemed  suitable  for 
food ;  so  we  find  the  persimmon  and  the  chicopin 
and  other  fruits  and  nuts  described  in  detail. 

By  this  time,  in  early  July,  they  found  them- 
selves suffering  from  the  double  annoyance  of 
mosquitoes  and  the  excessive  and  insupportable 
heat  of  the  sun,  from  which  they  sheltered  them- 
selves as  best  they  could  by  making  a  kind  of 
cabin  with  their  sails,  while  their  canoes  were 
borne  on  by  the  current. 

Finally  they  perceived  on  the  river-bank 
Indians  armed  with  guns,  who  awaited  their 
approach,  Joliet,  ready  either  for  peace  or  war, 
put  Marquette  forward  with  his  feathered  peace 
calumet  upraised,  while  the  rest  stood  to  arms, 
ready  to  fire  on  the  first  volley  of  the  savages. 
Marquette  hailed  them  in  Huron,  and  the  party 
was  not  only  peacefully  received,  but  invited  to 
their  village  and  presented  with  food  of  various 
kinds.  Joliet  found  among  them  guns,  axes, 
hoes,  powder,  etc.,  and  was  assured  that  they 
bought  cloth  and  other  articles  from  Europeans 
to  the  east,  doubtless  the  Spaniards  of  Florida. 
Marquette  was  troubled  to  find  they  had  received 
no  instruction  in  the  faith,  which,  as  far  as  he 
could,  he  gave  them. 

Being  assured  that  the  sea  was  not  more  than 
ten  days'  journey  distant,  they  were  greatly 
encouraged,  and  instead  of  drifting  with  the  cur- 
rent, took  up  their  paddles  with  renewed  ardor. 


LOUIS  JOLIET  31 

Passing  beyond  the  prairie  land,  they  found 
both  sides  of  the  river  lined  with  dense  woods, 
wherein  the  cotton-wood,  elm,  and  white-wood 
were  of  such  height  and  size  as  to  excite  their 
admiration.  That  the  forests  were  not  dense 
seemed  evident  from  the  bellowing  of  cattle  be- 
hind the  fringe  of  trees,  which  were  enlivened  for 
our  travellers  by  flocks  of  quail  along  the  water's 
edge  and  an  occasional  parrot  with  its  brilliant 
coloring  of  red,  yellow,  and  green. 

Nearing  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  they  saw 
on  the  river-bank  an  Indian  village  called  Mithi- 
ganea,  near  which  Joliet  and  his  party  had  an 
exciting  and  fearful  experience,  which  jNIarquette 
thus  describes : 

'*  We  heard  from  afar  the  Indians  exciting  one 
another  to  the  combat  by  continual  yells.  They 
were  armed  with  bows,  arrows,  axes,  war-clubs, 
and  bucklers,  and  prepared  to  attack  us  by  land 
and  water.  Some  embarked  in  large  wooden 
canoes,  a  part  to  ascend,  the  rest  to  descend,  the 
river,  so  as  to  cut  our  way  and  surround  us  com- 
pletely. Those  on  shore  kept  going  and  coming, 
as  if  about  to  begin  the  attack.  In  fact,  some 
young  men  sprang  into  the  water  to  come  and 
seize  my  canoe,  but  the  current  having  compelled 
them  to  return  to  the  shore,  one  of  them  threw 
his  war  club  at  us,  but  it  passed  over  our  heads 
without  doing  us  any  harm.  In  vain  I  showed 
the  calumet,  and  made  gestures  to  explain  that 
we  had  not  come  as  enemies.  The  alarm  con- 
tinued, and  they  were  about  to  pierce  us  from  all 
sides    with    their   arrows,  when   God    suddenly 


32  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

touched  the  hearts  of  the  old  men  on  the  water 
side,  doubtless  at  the  sight  of  our  calumet,  which 
at  the  distance  they  had  not  distinguished  ;  but 
as  I  showed  it  continually,  they  were  touched, 
restrained  the  ardor  of  their  youth,  and  two  of 
the  chiefs,  having  thrown  their  bows  and  quivers 
into  our  canoe,  and  as  it  were  at  our  feet,  entered 
and  brought  us  to  the  shore,  where  we  disem- 
barked, not  without  fear  on  our  part." 

An  old  chief  was  at  last  found  who  spoke  a 
little  Illinois,  and  through  him  they  were  told 
that  they  could  get  full  information  regarding 
the  sea  at  another  great  village  called  Akarasea, 
about  ten  leagues  down  the  river.  Presents  were 
exchanged  and  the  night  passed  among  them 
with  some  uneasiness.  The  loving  missionary 
spirit  of  Marquette  is  shown  here  for,  he  says : 
"  I  know  not  whether  they  understood  what  I 
told  them  of  God  and  the  things  which  con- 
cerned their  salvation.  It  is  a  seed  cast  in  the 
earth  which  will  bear  its  fruit  in  season." 

At  Akamsea  (Arkansas)  they  were  received  by 
the  sachem  holding  up  a  peace  calumet,  after 
which  they  had  the  customary  smoke  and  a  repast 
of  different  dishes  made  of  Indian  corn.  Presents 
were  interchanged  and  speeches  made  through 
a  young  Indian  who  understood  Illinois.  The 
whole  day  was  spent  in  feasting,  and  the  dishes 
of  Indian  corn  were  continuously  supplemented 
by  pieces  of  dog  flesh 

Joliet  and  Marquette  learned  from  them  that 
the  sea  was  only  ten  days'  journey  distant  for  the 
Indians,  which  meant  five  days  for  our  explorers 


LOUIS  JOLIET  33 

in  their  birch  canoes.  They  further  set  forth  the 
very  great  danger  of  passing  on,  owing  to  the 
continual  war  parties  moving  along  the  river. 
A  secret  council  of  the  sachems  with  a  view  to 
killing  the  party  for  plunder  was  only  broken 
up  through  the  influence  of  the  chief,  who,  send- 
ing for  the  explorers,  danced  a  calumet  dance  as 
a  mark  of  perfect  assurance,  and  then  to  remove 
all  fears,  presented  his  peace  calumet  to  Mar- 
quette as  a  guarantee  of  safety. 

The  famous  calumet  dance  is  performed  only 
on  important  occasions — to  strengthen  peace,  for 
a  war  assembly,  at  public  rejoicings,  and  in  honor 
of  important  personages  or  invited  strangers. 
The  principal  features  are,  first,  a  dance ;  second, 
a  mock  combat ;  third,  a  self-laudatory  speech, 
during  all  of  which  the  pipe  plays  an  important 
part,  being  smoked  and  handled  to  the  measured 
cadence  of  voices  and  drums. 

Joliet  and  Marquette  now  took  counsel  to- 
gether as  to  whether  they  should  continue  their 
voyage  in  face  of  such  adverse  conditions  or 
turn  back.  Finally,  after  long  and  careful  con- 
sideration it  was  decided  to  return. 

They  realized  that  in  their  present  latitude, 
33"  40'  N.,  they  could  not  be  more  than  two 
or  three  days  from  the  sea,  and  that  the  Mis- 
sissippi, by  its  general  course,  undoubtedly 
flowed  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  not  into  the 
South  Sea  through  California. 

Neglecting  the  dangers  from  warlike  Indians 
along  the  lower  river,  they  considered,  more- 
over, that   they  risked    losing    the    fruit   of   this 


34       EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

voyage  if  they  should  throw  themselves  into  the 
hands  of  the  Spaniards,  who  would  at  least  im- 
prison them. 

Joliet's  farthest  was  on  the  east  bank,  opposite 
a  river,  probably  the  Arkansas,  and  could  not 
have  been  far  from  the  point  where  De  Soto  more 
than  a  hundred  years  before,  in  April,  1541, 
reached   the  Mississippi.     What  a  contrast  be- 


tween the  means  and  experiences  of  these  two 
explorers !  De  Soto,  a  noble  Spaniard,  with  an 
armament  of  ten  vessels  equipped  with  all  the 
paraphernalia  of  war,  having,  with  three  hundred 
and  fifty  horsemen,  a  thousand  picked  men  in 
mail  who  had  been  chosen  from  the  flower  of 
the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  nobility.  His  fol- 
lowers were  animated  by  ambition,  eager  seekers 
for  wealth  and  power,  their  track  marked  by  fire 
and  sword,  their  action  often  treacherous  and 


LOUIS  JOLIET  35 

always  characterized  by  the  savageness  of  their 
age.  They  reaped  the  natural  harvest,  and  al- 
though they  reached  the  Mississippi,  yet  constant 
warfare,  continued  privations,  toil,  and  disasters 
had  sadly  wasted  their  strength  and  numbers, 
and  finally  not  one  man  in  four  ever  reached 
again  a  Spanish  settlement.  Joliet,  an  American 
of  humble  birth,  with  two  frail  canoes  equipped 
only  with  an  ordinary  hunting  outfit,  had  six- 
followers  who,  inspired  by  neither  hope  of  gold 
nor  desire  of  conquest  other  than  that  of  a  spir- 
itual kind,  came  with  peace  and  confidence, 
were  received  by  all  tribes  with  hospitality, 
and  returned  to  their  own  without  harm  or  con- 
tumely. 

The  result  of  De  Soto's  work  was  an  un- 
profitable, soon  -  forgotten  discovery,  utterly 
barren  of  results.  Joliet  reduced  the  fables  of 
the  Indians  to  facts,  discovered  the  muddy  Mis- 
souri, and  what  is  more,  gave  definite  knowledge 
to  the  world  of  the  fertile  valleys  of  the  Missis- 
sippi basin,  wherein  he  planted  the  first  germs  of 
civilization,  which  speedily  took  the  practical 
form  of  missions  and  settlements. 

After  a  day's  rest,  Joliet  and  his  party  left 
Akamsea  July  17th,  and  tediously  retraced  their 
course  against  the  strong  currents  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. Through  the  advice  of  the  Indians  they 
quitted  the  great  river  at  the  mouth  of  the  Illi- 
nois, which  greatly  shortened  their  way  and 
brought  them  with  little  trouble  to  the  present 
site  of  Chicago,  they  passing  on  the  way  through 
an  Illinois  town,  Kaskaskia,  of  seventy-four  cab- 


36  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

ins,  from  which  an  escort  of  braves  guided  them 
to  Lake  Michigan. 

Marquette  appears  to  have  had  a  prophetic  eye 
for  the  great  future  of  the  present  State  of  Illi- 
nois, for  he  says,  "  We  have  seen  nothing  like 
this  river  for  the  fertility  of  the  land,  its  prai- 
ries, woods,  wild  cattle,  deer,  wild-cats,  bustards, 
swans,  ducks,  parrots,  and  even  beaver ;  its  many 
little  lakes  and  rivers." 

Coa'sting  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  the  end 
of  September,  1673,  brought  them  to  Green  Bay, 
where  the  rude  comforts  of  a  frontier  mission 
and  the  solace  of  friendly  intercourse  were  once 
more  theirs.  They  had  been  absent  four  months, 
and  in  that  time  had  paddled  their  frail  canoes 
more  than  twenty-five  hundred  miles.  Here 
Marquette  remained  to  recruit  his  health,  im- 
paired by  physical  hardships,  continued  exposure, 
and  lack  of  suitable  food.  The  hardy  Joliet  lost 
no  time,  however,  but  pressed  on,  too  eager  to 
report  his  grand  discoveries  to  Frontenac. 

As  mentioned  in  Frontenac's  dispatch,  the  mis- 
fortunes of  Joliet  began  when  his  long  and  peril- 
ous voyage  was  practically  ended.  In  the  rapids 
of  La  Chine,  near  Montreal,  his  canoe  overset; 
three  of  his  party  were  drowned,  all  his  papers 
lost,  and  he  himself  narrowly  escaped.  In  a  let- 
ter to  Frontenac  he  says :  "  I  had  escaped  every 
peril  from  the  Indians ;  I  had  passed  forty-two 
rapids,  and  was  on  the  point  of  disembarking, 
full  of  joy  at  the  success  of  so  long  and  difficult 
an  enterprise,  when  my  canoe  capsized  after  all 
danger  seemed  past.     I  lost  two  men,  an  Indian 


LOUIS  JOLIET  37 

boy  and  my  box  of  papers  within  sight  of  the  first 
French  settlements,  which  I  had  left  almost  two 
years  before.  Nothing  now  remains  to  me  but 
my  life  and  the  ardent  desire  to  employ  it  on  any 
service  which  you  may  be  pleased  to  direct." 

We  have  to  rest  content  with  the  graphic  ac- 
count written  by  Marquette,  as  it  was  impossible 
for  Joliet  to  reproduce  his  lost  journal.  As  re- 
gards the  map,  his  natural  and  acquired  skill  in 
cartography  was  such  that  Joliet  reproduced  his 
discoveries  in  the  shape  of  a  small  map,  which 
he  presented  to  Frontenac,  by  whom  it  was  sent 
to  Colbert,  with  a  despatch  dated  November  14, 
1674,  and  now  is  in  the  famous  Chart  Ofifice  at 
Paris.  It  is  entitled,  "  Map  of  the  Discovery  of 
Sieur  Joliet,"  etc.,  and  has  a  brief  explanatory 
letter  thereon,  from  which  I  have  quoted  above. 

Joliet's  discoveries  were  most  joyfully  received 
in  France,  Colbert  especially  appreciating  their 
value  and  importance  both  as  regards  the  extent 
and  fertility  of  the  countries  traversed  and  also 
as  to  the  easy  water  communication  therewith. 
It  afforded  an  opportunity  of  extending  the  lim- 
its of  French  possessions  in  America,  which  was 
not  neglected.  It  did  not  fall,  however,  to  Joliet 
to  play  any  part  in  this  great  work,  which  was 
the  lot  of  his  great  rival,  the  energetic,  persistent, 
and  far-seeing  La  Salle,  who  received  in  1678  a 
royal  patent  with  seignorial  rights  over  all  lands 
which  he  might  discover  and  colonize  within 
twenty  years,  and  who  gave  Louisiana  to  the 
French  crown. 

The   natural  despondency  of   Joliet  over  the 

304304 


38  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

loss  of  his  maps  and  journals  soon  gave  way  to 
happier  experiences ;  for  the  following  year,  Oc- 
tober 7,  1675,  he  married  Clare  Frances  Bissot. 
His  father-in-law,  a  Canadian,  wa^  a  wealthy  In- 
dian trader,  so  Joliet  naturally  resumed  his  for- 
mer occupation,  and  in  1679  made  a  journey  to 
Hudson  Bay  by  way  of  the  Saguenay.  He  found 
the  English  strongly  intrenched  in  their  success- 
ful efforts  to  monopolize  the  Indian  trade  of 
that  quarter.  The  usual  attempts  to  draw  Cana- 
dians into  their  service  were  made  in  Joliet's 
case.  He  not  only  declined  service,  but  on  his 
return  to  Quebec  made  such  representations  of 
the  inevitable  effect  of  English  rivalry,  if  unop- 
posed, on  the  trade  of  Canada,  that  a  competing 
company  was  organized  by  French  merchants. 

Joliet  in  the  meantime  had  only  received  fair 
words,  but  after  strenuous  efforts  he  succeeded 
in  1679  in  obtaining  a  grant  of  the  Islands  of 
Mignan,  and  in  the  following  year  the  French 
Government  granted  him  the  Island  of  Anticosti, 
in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  Here  he  estab- 
lished himself  with  his  family,  and  with  six  ser- 
vants engaged  in  fisheries. 

In  the  course  of  time  he  added  to  his  buildings 
and  extended  his  interests,  but  his  peaceful  pur- 
suits were  destined  to  interruption  and  devasta- 
tion. In  1690  an  English  fleet,  under  command 
of  Sir  William  Phipps,  sailed  to  attack  Quebec, 
and  in  course  of  time  anchored  at  Anticosti.  In 
those  days  war  was  waged  with  utter  disregard 
of  the  i-ights  of  private  property.  Joliet  was 
then  absent.      A  detachment  from  the   English 


LOUIS  JOLIET  39 

fleet  landed  on  the  island,  devastated  Joliet's  es- 
tablishment, destroyed  his  buildings  by  fire,  and 
even  carried  away  as  prisoners  his  wife  and 
mother-in-law,  who  fortunately  were  soon  ex- 
changed. 

Deprived  in  a  day  of  the  accumulation  of  years, 
his  future  actions  showed  that  age  and  adversity 
made  but  small  inroads  on  his  manly  spirit. 
Obliged  to  exertion  for  the  support  of  his  family, 
he  turned  again  in  his  fiftieth  year  to  a  voyage 
of  exploration  and  adventure.  A  Canadian 
company  contemplated  the  extension  of  its  seal 
and  whale  fisheries  to  the  rugged  and  danger- 
ous coast  of  Labrador,  then  little  known,  and  in 
1694  Joliet  explored  the  greater  part  of  this  ice- 
covered  and  rock-bound  coast  under  the  auspices 
and  in  the  interest  of  this  company. 

Some  years  earlier  Joliet  had  shown  his  merits 
as  a  skilful  surveyor  and  navigator  by  charting 
the  waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  when,  on  his 
return  from  Labrador,  occupation  failed,  Fron- 
tenac  recognized  his  deserving  abilities  by  nam- 
ing him  for  the  post  of  royal  pilot  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence, still  later  appointing  him  hydrographer  at 
Quebec. 

The  emoluments  of  his  royal  offices  were  a 
mere  pittance,  and  in  1695  he  is  found  on  Mignan 
Islands,  where,  with  his  wife,  he  contracted  with 
his  brother-in-law  Bissot  and  other  parties  with  a 
view  of  developing  his  interests  both  on  land  and 
at  sea.  In  1697  he  was  granted  by  the  Crown 
the  Seignory  of  Joliet.  This  honor  he  did  not 
long  enjoy,  for  he  died,  apparently  a  poor  man, 


40  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

in  1699  or  1700.  He  was  fortunate  in  his  burial 
place,  one  of  the  Mignan  Islands,  which  is  for- 
ever associated  with  his  fame,  having  been 
granted  him  by  the  French  Crown  for  that  great 
and  dangerous  voyage  which  gave  to  the  world 
its  first  definite  knowledge  of  the  location,  extent, 
and  fertility  of  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 
While  Joliet  followed  the  rugged  and  peaceful 
pursuits  of  his  island-home,  ill  fared  it  with  his 
vigorous  Norman  successor.  The  great  La  Salle 
fell  under  the  hand  of  a  mutinous  follower,  while 
his  fated  Texan  colony  perished  totally  by  deser- 
tion, betrayal,  and  massacre.  So  relapsed  the 
lower  Mississippi  into  its  primal  savagery  and 
grandeur,  until  the  domineering  energy  of  the 
great  Canadian,  Iberville,  awakened  it  into  a 
vast  dominion,  to  the  glory,  if  not  to  the  profit, 
of  France. 


II. 

PETER  LE  MOYNE,  SIEUR  D'IBERVILLE. 

Founder  of  Louisiana. 

Among  the  very  earliest  settlers  of  Hochelega, 
now  Montreal,  was  the  son  of  a  Norman  innkeep- 
er, a  young  French  lad  of  fifteen,  Charles  le 
Moyne,  who  came  to  this  Indian  village  in  1641, 
Apt,  strong,  daring,  and  zealous,  he  soon  became 
one  of  the  most  efficient  aids  to  French  power. 
The  language,  the  woodcraft,  the  arts  of  the  sav- 
age soon  became  his,  and  added  to  these  such 
suavity  of  manner,  clearness  of  perception,  and 
native  kindness  as  made  him  loved  equally  by 
French  and  savage.  As  interpreter,  soldier,  ne- 
gotiator, and  captain  of  the  guard,  he  rendered 
such  great  service  to  the  young  and  exposed 
colony  as  caused  him  to  be  made  captain  of  Mon- 
treal, and  later,  in  1668,  to  be  ennobled  by  Louis 
XIV.  under  the  title  of  Sieur  of  Longueuil.  For 
four  years  service  in  the  country  of  the  Hurons 
he  received  for  his  entire  pay  the  sum  of  twenty 
crowns  and  his  clothing,  but  he  gained  also  such 
a  knowledge  of  the  possibilities  of  the  country, 
such  an  insight  into  Indian  character,  and  such  a 
wealth  of  vigorous  manhood  as  enabled  him  to 
acquire  during  his  life  an  estate  that  was  princely. 
He  did   better  than  this,  he  married  a  woman 


42  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

worthy  of  him,  whose  family  is  scarcely  known, 
Catherine  Tierry,  an  adopted  daughter  of  An- 
toine  Primot. 

In  all  the  history  of  American  families  there  is 
none  that  has  as  distinguished  and  brilliant  a  his- 
tory as  the  twelve  sons  and  two  daughters  born 
of  this  French  peasant  and  the  son  of  a  Norman 
innkeeper  in  the  forests  of  Canada.  The  two 
daughters  married  nobles,  and  of  the  twelve  sons 
nine  live  distinguished  in  history,  three  of  them 
were  killed  in  the  service  of  France,  ten  of  them 
were  ennobled,  and  four,  Iberville,  Serigny,  Cha- 
teauguay,  and  Bienville  the  younger,  played  im- 
portant parts  in  the  founding  of  Louisiana. 

There  were  many  brilliant  and  picturesque 
figures  among  the  actors  in  the  founding  of  a  New 
France  in  the  wilds  of  North  America,  but  among 
them  all  there  was  scarcely  one  whose  personality 
and  deeds  excited  more  admiration  among  his 
contemporaries,  or  whose  services  and  career 
are  more  deserving  of  recognition  by  posterity, 
than  Peter  le  Moyne,  Sieur  d' Iberville,  third  son 


of  Longueuil,  who  was  born  on  the  extreme  fron- 
tier, at  the  outpost  of  Montreal,  July  i6,  1661. 
As  a  soldier  he  rose  to  be  the  leader  and  idol  of 
his  fellow-Canadians ;  as  a  sailor  he  became  an  ex- 
tremely skilful  navigator,  who  was  acknowledged 
as  one  of  the  greatest  of  French  naval  command- 


PETER  LE  MOTNE  43 

ers ;  and  as  an  explorer  and  administrator  he  so 
successfully  accomplished  his  plans  as  to  merit 
and  receive  the  title  of  the  Founder  of  Louisiana. 

The  freedom,  vigor,  and  wildness  of  Canadian 
life  developed  men  early,  and  Iberville  entered 
the,  French  Navy  as  midshipman  at  the  age  of 
fourteen.  His  first  service  of  note,  however,  was 
as  a  soldier  in  the  wilds  of  his  native  land,  in  the 
Canadian  overland  campaign  to  recover  posses- 
sion of  an  Indian  trading  post  on  Hudson  Bay, 
which  it  was  claimed  the  English  had  illegally 
seized.  Iberville  volunteered  for  this  campaign 
under  De  Troye,  and  exhibited  such  judgment 
and  vigor  as  caused  him  to  be  put  in  command 
of  a  small  party  of  nine,  some  say  twelve,  men 
with  two  canoes,  wherewith  he  did  not  hesitate 
to  attack  and  compel  the  unconditional  surrender 
of  an  English  ship  manned  by  fourteen,  including 
the  commander  of  Hudson  Bay.  St.  Helene,  his 
brother,  meantime  captured  another  vessel,  and 
with  the  two  as  means  of  transport,  the  two 
brothers  pushed  on  to  Fort  Quitchitchouen, 
which  surrendered  after  withstanding  a  sharp 
cannonade. 

These  victories  not  only  insured  to  the  French 
the  command  of  the  entire  southern  part  of  Hud- 
son Bay,  but  put  them  in  possession  of  a  vast 
amount  of  stores.  Indeed,  so  destructive  to  Eng- 
lish interests  were  the  campaigns  of  Iberville  in 
1687-88,  that  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  declared 
that  their  actual  losses  amounted  to  108,520  pounds 
sterling,  an  enormous  sum  in  the  young  ccjlonies 
of  that  day.     The  consequential  losses  must  have 


44  EXPLORERS  AND    TRAVELLERS 

been  very  great,  for  we  are  told  that  the  value  of 
furs  obtained  in  the  trade  of  one  year  amounted 
to  400,000  livres  (francs). 

Iberville  remained  in  charge  of  the  country 
which  his  valor  had  recaptured,  and  in  1688, 
while  the  Iroquois  were  ravaging  Canada,  waged 
successful  war  in  _  Hudson  Bay.  One  of  his 
lieutenants,  capturing  an  English  official,  found 
on  him  an  order  from  the  London  Company 
to  proclaim  English  sovereignty  over  the  whole 
bay.  Later  two  ships,  with  twenty-eight  cannon 
and  eight  swivels,  appeared  before  St.  Anne  in 
order  to  expel  the  French.  Eventually  Iberville 
compelled  the  surrender  of  the  English  ships,  and 
releasing  the  smaller  vessel  for  the  safe  transport 
of  such  prisoners  as  he  paroled,  himself  navigated 
the  larger  ship,  with  eleven  Hudson  Bay  pilots 
held  prisoners,  to  Quebec  through  Hudson  Strait. 

In  1690  Iberville  volunteered,  under  his  brother 
St.  Helene,  for  the  retaliatory  expedition  in  mid- 
winter against  Schenectady,  wherein  a  large 
number  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  unhappy  town 
were  ruthlessly  massacred  by  the  French  and 
their  Indian  allies.  Iberville  seems  to  have  exer- 
ted his  influence  to  restrain  the  savagery  of  the 
Indians,  and  saved  the  life  of  at  least  one  Eng- 
lishman. 

It  seems  that  the  successes  of  the  young  Cana- 
dian had  attracted  attention  in  France,  and  when 
in  1 69 1,  through  the  efforts  of  the  Northern 
Company,  Louis  XIV.  had  decided  to  recover 
Port  Nelson,  Hudson  Bay,  from  the  English,  Du 
Tast  came  to  Quebec  with  fourteen  sail,  it  was 


PETER  LE  MOYNE  45 

with  express  orders  that  Iberville  should  be  en- 
trusted with  a  share  of  the  work  and  glory.  Du 
Tast  objected  to  such  division  of  honor,  and  by 
plausible  objections  as  to  the  lateness  of  the 
season,  although  it  was  only  the  i6th  of  July, 
succeeded  in  delaying  the  departure  of  the  ex- 
pedition for  that  year. 

Iberville  seemed  determined  to  show  the 
speciousness  of  the  reasons,  for  he  made  a  trip  to 
the  bay  and  brought  back  in  1691  two  ships 
loaded  with  furs,  much  to  the  consolation  of 
Frontenac.  He  immediately  went  to  France  to 
advance  the  expedition  against  Port  Nelson, 
which  he  knew  was  much  favored  at  court. 
Iberville  found  favor  with  the  king,  who  gave 
him  two  ships  for  the  reduction  of  Port  Nelson, 
and  orders  to  guard  it  after  reduction. 

Delays  in  France  and  contrary  winds  on  the 
Atlantic  brought  Iberville  to  Quebec  only  in 
October,  far  too  late  for  the  safe  navigation  of 
Hudson  Bay.  To  fill  in  his  time  he  set  forth  to 
take  Pemaquid,  but  did  not  make  an  attack,  this 
being  the  only  instance  in  his  long  career  where 
he  failed  to  show  extreme  daring,  even  against 
desperate  odds.  The  delay  of  the  vessels  was 
unfortunate  for  France  as  far  as  Hudson  Bay 
was  concerned,  for  in  1693  three  English  vessels 
attacked  and  captured  St.  Anne,  with  fifty  thou- 
sand peltries,  and  again  the  control  of  the  bay 
passed  from  France. 

In  September,  1694,  Iberville,  with  two  ships, 
la  Poli  and  la  Charante,  the  former  commanded 
by  his  brother,  de  Serigny,  appeared  before  Port 


46  EXPLORERS  AND    TRAVELLERS 

Nelson,  which  he  was  six  weeks  in  approaching 
owing  to  the  heavy  moving  ice,  which  nearly 
destroyed  his  vessel.  The  fort  had  a  double 
palisade,  thirty-two  cannon  and  swivels  in  the 
main  body,  and  fourteen  cannon  in  outer  works, 
the  whole  manned  by  fifty-three  men.  Iberville 
landed  without  hesitation,  invested  the  fort  with 
forty  Canadians,  worked  with  his  usual  energy 
and  skill,  and  in  fourteen  days  he  had  his  out- 
works established,  his  batteries  placed  and  mor- 
tars in  position.  His  final  summons  for  sur- 
render resulted  in  the  capitulation  of  the  fort, 
on  condition  that  personal  property  should  be 
spared  and  safe  transport  be  given  the  garrison 
to  England  the  coming  year.  His  success  was 
saddened  for  Iberville  by  the  death  of  the  elder 
Chateauguay,  the  third  of  his  brothers  to  fall  in 
the  service  of  his  king,  who  perished  while  gal- 
lantly repelling  a  sortie  of  the  beleaguered  gar- 
rison. The  name  of  Port  Nelson  was  changed 
to  Fort  Bourbon,  and  the  river  was  re-christened 
St.  Therese,  because,  says  Jeremie,  in  his  Relation 
de  la  Bate  de  Hudson,  the  capitulation  was  made 
on  October  14th,  the  day  of  that  holy  saint. 

The  victory  did  not  prove  to  be  cheap,  for 
scurvy,  then  the  dreaded  scourge  of  the  sailor, 
broke  out  during  the  long,  dark,  excessively  cold 
winter,  and  caused  the  death  of  twenty  men. 
Late  the  next  summer,  after  waiting  to  the  last 
moment  for  the  English  ships  he  counted  on 
capturing,  and  leaving  a  garrison  of  sixt3^-seven 
at  Fort  Bourbon,  Iberville  sailed  for  Quebec ; 
but  the  winds  were  so  contrary  and  his  crew  so 


PETER  LE  MOYNE  47 

debilitated  by  scurvy,  that  he  turned  his  prows 
to  France  and  fortunately  arrived  at  Rochelle, 
October  9,  1695. 

His  victories  in  Hudson  Bay  so  commended 
him  to  the  king  that  Iberville  was  charged  with 
the  reduction  and  destruction  of  the  strong  fort 
which  James  \\.  of  England  had  erected  at  Pem- 
aquid,  Maine.  While  on  this  cruise  our  Cana- 
dian fell  in  with  three  English  ships  near  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  John.  He  unhesitatingly  at- 
tacked them,  dismasted,  fired,  and  captured  the 
flag-ship  of  the  squadron,  the  Newport,  a  ship  of 
eighty  men  and  twenty-four  guns. 

Reinforced  by  several  hundred  Indians,  as  a 
land  and  besieging  force,  Iberville  arrived  at 
Pemaquid,  August  13,  1696,  and  invested  the 
fort  the  next  day.  He  summoned  the  com- 
mander. Colonel  Chubb,  to  capitulate,  but  that 
officer  replied  that,  "  if  the  sea  was  covered  with 
French  vessels  and  the  land  with  Indians,  he 
would  not  surrender  until  compelled  to  do  so." 
Iberville  promptly  landed,  and  used  such  ex- 
pedition that  within  the  short  space  of  thirteen 
hours  he  established  his  batteries  in  position 
and  opened  fire,  when  the  garrison  surrendered 
on  honorable  terms.  Iberville,  doubtless  mind- 
ful of  his  experiences  at  Schenectady,  took  the 
wise  and  humane  precaution  of  quartering  his 
prisoners  under  the  guns  of  the  royal  ships,  so 
as  to  secure  them  from  the  fury  of  his  blood- 
thirsty allies,  the  Indians,  who  desired  to  supple- 
ment the  entire  destruction  of  the  fort  by  the 
slaughter  of  the  garrison. 


48       EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

In  withdrawing  from  the  demolished  post, 
while  doubling  the  island  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Penobscot,  he  had  an  opportunity  of  justifying 
his  reputation  as  the  most  skilful  officer  in  the 
French  service ;  for,  falling  in  with  an  English 
squadron  of  seven  sail,  he  successfully  evaded 
them  by  bold  seamanship  along  the  very  coast 
line  of  that  dangerous  and  rock-bound  shore. 

His  capacity  as  a  military  commander  was  now 
to  be  tested.  Charged  by  the  king  to  co-oper- 
ate in  the  reduction  of  Newfoundland  to  French 
power,  Iberville  found  himself  viewed  with  jeal- 
ousy by  his  colleague,  Brouillian,  governor  of 
Placentia,  who  assumed  entire  command,  inter- 
fered with  Iberville's  contemplated  movements, 
and  declared  that  his  own  troops,  the  Canadians, 
should  not  accompany  him  on  the  opening  cam- 
paign. 

Iberville  realizing  the  necessity  of  zealous  and 
concerted  action  in  an  enterprise  of  such  impor- 
tance, decided  to  leave  the  field  free  to  Brouillan, 
and  so  announced  his  intention  of  returning  to 
France.  Immediately  the  Canadians  declared  to 
a  man  that  they  were  bound  to  him  alone,  that 
Frontenac's  orders  recognized  Iberville  as  com- 
mander, and  finally,  that  they  would  return  to 
Quebec  sooner  than  accept  another.  Brouillan 
recognizing  that  Iberville  was  the  idol  of  his 
Canadian  countrymen,  and  unable  to  deny  that 
the  king  had  confided  all  the  enterprises  to  be 
undertaken  during  the  winter  to  Iberville,  made 
such  concessions  as  brought  about  reconciliation  ; 
nevertheless  the    campaign    undertaken  against 


PETER  LE  MOFKE  49 

St.  John's  was  marked  by  dissension.  Iberville 
displayed  his  usual  energy  and  gallantry  in  the 
advance  and  subsequent  skirmishes  which  ulti- 
mately resulted  in  the  surrender  of  St.  John's, 
which  was  abandoned  and  destroyed  by  fire. 
The  campaign  was  pursued  with  such  energy 
and  success  that  at  the  end  of  two  months  the 
English  had  nothing  left  in  Newfoundhnd  ex- 
cept Bona  Vista  and  Carbonniere  Island.  Dur- 
ing these  operations  Iberville  displayed  marked 
ability  in  handling  troops,  both  in  the  field  and 
during  siege  operations.  His  eagerness  to  share 
every  danger,  and  willingness  to  undergo  every 
hardship  in  common  with  his  troops,  endeared 
him  to  all  and  contributed  much  to  the  enthusi- 
asm with  which  his  men  followed  him  or  obeyed 
his  orders. 

In  May,  1697,  his  brother  Serigny  arrived  at 
Placentia  with  four  vessels,  destined  for  the 
command  of  Iberville  in  a  proposed  attempt  to 
again  reduce  Hudson  Bay.  With  these  ships — le 
Pelican,  fifty  guns ;  le  Palmier,  forty  guns ;  le 
Profond,  le  Vespe,  and  a  brigantine — Iberville 
entered  the  mouth  of  Hudson  Strait  on  August 
3d,  and  was  immediately  beset  with  heavy  ice. 
The  floes  were  driven  hither  and  thither  with  such 
violence  by  the  currents  that  Iberville  directed, 
as  the  best  means  of  safety,  that  each  vessel 
should  moor  itself  to  the  largest  attainable  iceberg. 
This  expedient  saved  four  of  the  ships,  but  an  un- 
expected movement  of  two  large  bergs  crushed 
so  completely  the  brigantine  that  she  sank  in- 
stantly, the  crew  barely  escaping  with  their  lives. 
4 


50  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

After  a  besetment  of  twenty-four  days,  Iber- 
ville succeeded  in  extricating  his  vessel  from 
the  ice  and  passed  into  the  bay.  He  was  alone 
and  in  utter  ignorance  of  the  fate  of  his  con- 
sorts, which  had  been  hidden  from  view  by  the 
ice  for  the  past  seventeen  days.  Iberville  was 
not  the  man  to  turn  back,  nor  indeed  to  delay  in 
an  expedition  which  demanded  haste,  so  he 
pushed  on  alone  and  reached  Port  Nelson  on 
September  4th. 

The  next  morning  he  discovered  three  ships 
several  leagues  to  the  leeward,  tacking  to  enter 
the  harbor.  He  hoped  that  they  were  his  con- 
sorts, and  he  at  once  made  signals,  which  being 
unanswered  showed  that  the  ships  were  English. 
It  was  indeed  an  English  squadron,  consisting  of 
the  Hampshire,  fifty-two  guns  and  two  hundred 
and  thirty  men ;  the  Hudson  Bay,  thirty-two 
guns,  and  the  Deringue,  also  of  thirty-two  guns, 
against  which  force  Iberville  had  but  one  ship 
of  fifty  guns.  It  was  with  reason  that,  as  Jeremie 
says,  "  they  flattered  themselves  with  the  idea  of 
capturing  Iberville,  seeing  that  they  were  three 
to  one,  and  they  were  amazed  at  the  boldness 
with  which  he  attacked  them," 

Indeed,  almost  any  other  officer  in  the  French 
navy  would  have  considered  an  attack  as  simply 
madness,  but  such  desperate  odds  only  served  to 
stimulate  to  the  highest  degree  the  known  cour- 
age and  skill  of  Iberville.  He  cleared  his  decks 
for  action,  and  instantly  quitting  the  shelter  and 
supposed  advantage  of  the  harbor,  attacked  the 
English  squadron  in  the  open  sea,  where  Iberville 


PETER  LE  MOYNE  51 

doubtless  counted  that  his  skill  in  handling  ship 
would  inure  to  his  benefit. 

Charlevoix  thus  describes  this  desperate  fight : 

"  The  cannonade  opened  about  half-past  nine 
in  the  morning  and  was  kept  up  incessantly  till 
one  with  great  vigor  on  both  sides.  Meanwhile 
the  Pelican  had  only  one  man  killed  and  seven- 
teen wounded.  Then  Iberville,  who  had  kept  the 
weather-gauge,  bore  down  straight  on  the  two 
frigates,  pouring  in  several  broadsides  at  close 
quarters  in  order  to  disable  them.  At  that  mo- 
ment he  perceived  the  third,  the  Hampshire, 
coming  on  with  twenty-six  guns  in  battery  on  each 
side,  with  a  crew  of  two  hundred  and  thirty  men. 

"  He  at  once  proceeded  to  meet  her,  all  his  guns 
pointed  to  sink  her,  ran  under  her  lee,  yard-arm 
to  yard-arm,  and  having  brought  his  ship  to, 
poured  in  his  broadside.  This  was  done  so  effec- 
tively that  the  Hampshire,  after  keeping  on 
about  her  own  length,  went  down.  Iberville  at 
once  wore  and  turned  on  the  Hudson  Bay,  the 
ship  of  the  remaining  two  that  could  most  easily 
enter  St.  Teresa  River ;  but  as  he  was  on  the 
point  of  boarding  her,  the  commandant  struck 
his  flag  and  surrendered. 

"  Iberville  then  gave  chase  to  the  Deringue,  the 
third,  which  was  escaping  to  the  northeast,  and 
which  was  only  a  good  cannon-shot  off ;  but  as 
that  vessel  was  as  good  a  sailor  as  his  own  ship 
he  soon  gave  up  the  chase,  not  daring  to  crowd 
sail,  having  had  much  of  his  rigging  cut,  two 
pumps  burst,  his  shrouds  considerably  injured, 
hull  cut  up  by  seven  cannon-balls  and  pierced  at 


52  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

the  water's  edge,  with  no  way  of  stopping  the 
leak.  He  accordingly  veered  and  sent  the  Sieur 
de  la  Sale  in  his  boat  with  twenty-five  men  to 
man  the  prize.  He  then  proceeded  to  repair 
damage,  and  having  done  so  with  great  expedi- 
tion, he  renewed  the  chase  of  the  enemy,  who 
was  now  three  leagues  off. 

"  He  began  to  gain  on  him  when,  in  the  evening, 
the  wind  changed  to  the  north,  and  a  thick  fog 
suddenly  rising,  he  lost  sight  of  the  Deringue. 
This  accident  compelled  him  to  rejoin  the  Hud- 
son Bay,  and  he  anchored  near  the  Hampshire, 
now  almost  out  of  sight,  and  from  which  not  a 
soul  had  been  saved." 

In  this  fight  with  an  enemy  more  than  twice 
his  superior  in  guns  and  men  Iberville  had  sunk 
one  ship,  captured  another,  and  put  the  third  to 
flight;  but  this  was  followed  by  other  experi- 
ences, which  at  the  outset  presented  conditions 
apparently  not  less  desperate  and  discouraging. 
Two  days  later,  pending  his  siege  operations 
against  Port  Nelson,  a  violent  gale  arose,  in 
which,  says  Charlevoix,  "  In  spite  of  all  d'lber- 
ville's  efforts  to  ride  it  out — and  there  was  not, 
perhaps,  in  the  French  navy  one  more  skilful  in 
handling  a  ship — he  was  driven  ashore  with  his 
vessel,  the  Pelican,  and  his  prize,  the  Hudson  Bay. 
The  misfortune  happened  at  night,  the  darkness 
increasing  the  horrors  of  the  storm  and  prevent- 
ing them  from  beaching  the  vessels  at  a  favor- 
able place  and  so  saving  them,  and  before  the 
break  of  day  they  broke  up  and  filled." 

Both    vessels   were    crowded    with    wounded 


PETER  LE  MOYNE  53 

men  and  prisoners,  who  endeavored  as  best  they 
could  to  reach  the  shore  in  the  storm  and  dark- 
ness. Twenty -three  perished  in  the  attempt,  but 
fortunately  the  receding  tide  left  such  shallows 
that  the  rest  reached  shore,  and  most  of  the 
prisoners  successfully  sought  the  friendly  shelter 
of  Fort  Nelson. 

Iberville  now  found  himself  in  most  desperate 
plight — shipwrecked  on  a  barren  coast,  with  a 
hostile  garrison  on  land,  the  return  of  the  Eng- 
lish ship  at  sea  possible,  and  destitute  of  provis- 
ions. He  turned  to  the  wrecked  vessels  and 
found  that  it  was  possible  to  obtain  from  them 
cannon  and  other  munitions  of  war,  and,  undis- 
mayed, he  set  his  cold,  wet,  and  hungry  crew  at 
this  task,  resolved  to  obtain  food  by  carrying 
the  English  fort  by  assault.  At  this  juncture 
his  missing  vessels,  having  extricated  themselves 
from  the  ice  of  Hudson  Strait,  appeared,  and 
the  fort  surrendered  without  putting  Iberville 
to  the  last  proof  of  his  courage. 

As  might  be  expected,  Iberville  became  the 
hero  of  the  day  on  his  return  to  France  in  1697; 
but  true  to  himself  and  his  career,  he  sought  the 
influence  of  friends  at  court  only  to  obtain  other 
difificult  and  dangerous  service  that  might  add  to 
the  glory  of  France.  He  was  now  to  enter  on  a 
new  career  as  an  explorer,  colonizer,  and  adminis- 
trator, where,  if  he  was  to  perform  less  brilliant 
deeds  than  in  earlier  life,  he  was  destined  to  open 
up  to  settlement  by  his  countrymen  the  fertile 
lands  of  Louisiana,  and  thus  lay  the  foundations 
of  its  future  greatness. 


54  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

It  was  now  twelve  years  since  the  tragic  fate 
of  La  Salle's  colony  on  the  coast  of  Texas  had 
spread  dismay  and  terror  among  all  who  had 
been  especially  interested  in  the  scheme  of  French 
colonization  on  the  Mississippi  River.  The  senti- 
ment seemed  to  be  that  the  mouth  of  the  great 
river  could  never  be  found  and  that  further  effort 
would  only  result  in  useless  sacrifice  of  life  and 
vessels.  With  the  march  of  time,  however,  these 
impressions  of  doubt  and  disaster  had  faded  out 
of  mind,  and  as  now  the  attention  of  the  ministry 
was  especially  turned  to  that  part  of  Louisiana 
which  could  be  reached  from  the  St.  Lawrence, 
it  appeared  to  Iberville  to  be  a  suitable  season  to 
revive  the  project  of  discovering  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi  and  of  planting  a  colony, 

A  plan  for  the  colonization  of  Louisiana  was 
formally  submitted  to  the  French  Government 
by  M.  de  Remonville,  while  Iberville  for  his 
part  pledged  his  reputation  as  a  navigator  both 
to  find  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and  to  suc- 
cessfully plant  there  a  colony.  The  ministry 
were  easily  persuaded  that  the  scheme  was  prac- 
ticable and  advantageous,  their  decision  being 
doubtless  affected  by  the  knowledge  that  both 
Spain  and  England  contemplated  the  early  settle- 
ment of  the  northern  coasts  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
It  was  even  reported,  as  afterward  transpired  to 
be  the  truth,  that  colonizing  expeditions  were  al- 
ready en  route,  and  in  order  to  insure  protection 
should  Iberville  first  reach  the  ground.  Count 
Pontchartrain  projected  and  arranged  for  the  con- 
struction of  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi. 


PETER  LE  MOYNE  65 

As  was  always  the  case,  schemes  of  trade  were 
interwoven  with  the  policy  of  colonization  and 
extension  of  the  royal  domain.  The  principal 
objects  of  the  trade  proved  fanciful  or  chimerical, 
being,  first,  the  idea  of  making  bison  wool  an 
article  of  trade,  a  scheme  fostered  in  France  by- 
La  Salle,  and,  second,  in  the  hope  that  valuable 
pearl  fisheries  might  be  found.  In  Iberville's  in- 
structions we  find  that  "  one  of  the  great  objects 
proposed  to  the  king,  when  he  was  urged  to  dis- 
cover the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  was  to  obtain 
wool  from  the  cattle  (buffalo)  of  that  country, 
and  for  this  purpose  these  animals  must  be 
tamed  and  parked  and  the  calves  sent  to  France." 

Iberville  worked  with  his  usual  energy,  and  the 
expedition,  consisting  of  two  small  frigates,  the 
Badine,  the  Marin,  and  two  Norman  fishing- 
boats,  sailed  from  Brest,  October  4, 1698.  It  was 
Friday,  but  Iberville  no  more  than  Columbus 
minded  the  day,  and  in  the  reluctance  of  the 
other  vessels,  himself  led  in  the  Badine. 

A  storm  off  Madeira  caused  the  disappearance 
of  one  of  the  fishing-boats,  but  after  a  short  search 
Iberville  tarried  no  more  than  he  did  in  the  Hud- 
son Straits  for  his  missing  consort,  but  pushed 
on  and  reached  San  Domingo  early  in  December. 
Here  the  governor,  Ducasse,  was  so  impressed 
with  Iberville's  elucidation  of  his  projects  that 
he  expressed  to  the  home  government  his  opinion 
that  the  views  and  genius  of  Iberville  seemed  to 
equal  his  valor  in  war. 

English  vessels  had  been  cruising  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  San  Domingo,  which  led  Iberville  to 


56  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

believe  that  it  was  a  colonizing  expedition,  so  he 
worked  day  and  night  in  completing  his  prepara- 
tions, and  on  January  i,  1699,  sailed  for  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  twenty-third 
day,  Iberville  as  usual  leading,  land  was  sighted 
in  the  northeast.  It  proved  to  be  the  harbor  of 
Pensacola,  where  Iberville  was  chagrined  to  find 
himself  preceded  by  a  Spanish  colony  under 
command  of  Don  Andres  de  la  Riola.  There  were 
two  frigates  yet  in  the  harbor,  which  four  months 
before  had  brought  up  three  hundred  colonists 
from  Vera  Cruz.  The  half-finished  fort,  the  dis- 
satisfied garrison,  and  the  uncertainty  of  the 
future  explorations  to  the  westward  were  so 
many  inducements  for  Iberville  to  drive  out  the 
Spaniards  and  secure  the  harbor.  Iberville  made 
arrangements  to  enter  the  harbor,  but  was  notified 
by  the  Spanish  governor  that  he  had  formal 
orders  from  Spain  to  permit  no  foreign  ships  to 
enter  the  harbor.  Under  pretence  that  he  feared 
heavy  weather  the  French  fleet  sounded  the 
entrance  to  the  harbor  and  prepared  to  enter. 
The  Spanish  commander,  however,  begged  that 
they  would  retire,  and  fortunately  having  been 
given  information  by  the  Spanish  pilot,  Iberville 
decided  to  sail  to  the  west.  Iberville,  exploring 
the  coast,  anchored  at  the  eastern  point  of  the 
entrance  to  Mobile  Bay,  where  violent  gales 
nearly  destroyed  the  squadron. 

Reconnoitring  boats  giving  such  unsatisfac- 
tory reports  of  the  depth  of  the  channel,  Iberville 
determined,  with  his  usual  energy,  to  survey  it 
himself.     Taking  his  younger  brother  Bienville 


PETER  LE  MOYNE 


57 


and  a  crew  of  his  faithful  Canadians  he  started, 
despite  approaching  darkness,  so  as  to  begin 
work  at  day-light;  the  storm  breaking  with 
great  violence,  Iberville's  efforts  to  make  head- 


way over  the  billows  were  in  vain.  Finally,  his 
rowers  exhausted,  the  boat  was  turned  to  the 
nearest  land,  but  the  sea  was  so  high  and  the 
wind  so  violent  that  unceasing  efforts  were  need- 
ful to  prevent  the  boat  from  swamping.  It  was 
due  to  Iberville's  great  skill  that  the  boat  was 


58  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

finally  beached  in  a  favorable  spot  on  the  sandy 
beach,  which  the  crew  reached  with  difficulty,  so 
exhausted  were  they  with  their  struggles.  Here 
they  were  weather-bound  three  days,  and  so  had 
an  opportunity  to  explore  the  island.  It  was 
with  horror  that  they  discovered  in  one  place 
ghastly  piles  of  human  bones  and  skulls,  mute 
witnesses  of  a  scene  of  slaughter,  which  terrified 
many  of  the  crew  until  they  found  the  island  to 
be  uninhabited.  The  island,  now  known  as 
Dauphin,  was  called  Massacre  by  Iberville,  who, 
undisturbed  by  the  sight,  visited  the  mainland 
with  a  few  of  his  men  and  made  every  effort  to 
discover  the  inhabitants,  of  whom  he  found  re- 
cent traces. 

Finally  came  good  weather,  and  with  it  the 
continued  voyage  to  the  west  brought  the  fleet 
to  safe  anchorage  on  a  bright  February  morn  off 
Ship  Island.  The  live-stock  landed,  Iberville 
gave  his  freight  consorts  permission  to  return  to 
France,  while  he  explored  the  mainland  that  now 
lay  fair  and  bright  before  him.  The  Indians 
were  communicated  with,  after  many  failures, 
but,  beyond  the  discovery  of  the  Pascagoula  and 
reports  of  a  larger  river  to  the  west,  which  the 
Bayagoula  Indians  called  Malbouchia,  no  valu- 
able information  was  obtained.  Iberville  planned 
to  reach  the  great  river  by  one  of  its  reported 
outlets,  and,  following  the  main  channel  down, 
thus  learn  the  way  for  his  vessel ;  but,  the  Indians 
giving  him  the  slip,  it  only  remained  to  search 
every  foot  of  the  coast  until  the  river  was  gained. 
He  was  thus  thrown  on  his  own  resources,  which 


PETER  LE  MOYNE  59 

had  never  failed  and  were  not  to  do  so  now. 
Iberville,  with  his  brother  Bienville  and  fifty 
picked  men,  largely  Canadians,  and  twenty  days' 
provisions,,  started  February  27th,  on  two  Bis- 
cayennes  or  barges,  for  his  difficult  task,  the 
discovery  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi. 

It  is  useless  to  detail  this  journey  of  Iberville 
through  an  apparently  endless  maze  of  islets, 
mud-banks,  sand-banks,  reefs,  and  marshy  shoals, 
which  go  to  make  up  the  great  level  delta  of  the 
Mississippi.  It  would,  even  to-day,  be  a  difficult 
search  for  most  mariners  without  a  chart,  but 
then  well-nigh  impossible.  Iberville's  skill  and 
patience  were  tasked  to  the  utmost,  and,  when  he 
did  find  the  mouth  of  the  great  river,  it  almost 
seemed  to  be  by  the  intervention  of  Providence. 
On  the  eve  of  March  3,  1699,  while  struggling 
along  the  mainland,  to  which  they  persistently 
clung,  the  violence  of  an  increasing  gale  threat- 
ened to  swamp  their  barges,  despite  every  effort, 
if  they  kept  off  shore,  while  every  approach  to 
watch  the  shore-line,  and  thus  make  certain  of 
the  river-mouth,  incurred  danger  of  beaching 
and  destruction.  Darkness  came  on  and  the  gale 
increased,  making  certain,  as  it  seemed  to  them, 
that  they  must  choose  death  at  sea  or  death  on 
land.  Suddenly  Iberville  put  his  barge  before 
the  wind,  and  into  the  face  of  death  as  his  fol- 
lowers thought,  but  it  shot  between  huge  piles 
of  interlaced  drift-wood  into  a  turbid  stream  of 
whitish  water.  Iberville  put  out  his  hand  and 
tasted.  The  water  was  fresh,  and  the  Mississippi 
was  rediscovered. 


60  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

The  Spaniards  had  spoken  of  the  river  as  La 
Palisada,  which  Iberville  thought  most  appropri- 
ate when  he  saw  the  bristling  barricades  of  huge 
jagged  trees  with  outstretched  limbs  and  con- 
torted roots  borne  incessantly  onward  by  the 
strong  current. 

Iberville  camped  that  night  at  the  edge  of  the 
dense  rank  sedge-growth,  saying :  "  Stretched 
on  the  sedges  and  sheltered  from  the  gale,  our 
pleasure  is  so  much  the  greater  that  we  feel  our 
escape  from  a  great  peril.  It  is  a  very  lively 
business,  this  exploring  the  unknown  shores  of  a 
sea  in  shallops  too  small  to  carry  sail  in  the  open 
sea,  too  tiny  to  anchor,  and  yet  so  large  that  they 
strand  and  ground  half  a  league  from  land." 

The  next  morn  was  that  of  Mardi-Gras,  when 
our  devout  explorers  celebrated  mass,  sang  joy- 
fully the  Te  Deum  and  raised  a  commemorative 
cross  before  voyaging  further. 

Never  in  their  wildest  dreams  could  the  hardy 
Canadian  explorers  from  their  marshy  camp  in 
the  delta  of  the  Mississippi  ever  have  presaged, 
that  in  the  coming  time,  from  the  many  millions 
of  future  inhabitants  in  the  Valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi should  be  gathered  tens  of  thousands  to  cel- 
ebrate the  merry  day  of  carnival  in  the  metro- 
politan city  that  was  to  spring  up  from  their 
memorable  voyage. 

The  Mississippi  was  near  its  high  stage,  so  that 
travel  was  tediously  slow,  mostly  by  oar.  The 
land  rose  somewhat,  the  sedge  gave  way  first  to 
cane  and  willows,  and  later  to  richly  foliaged 
trees  with  graceful  festoons  pleasing  to  the  eye 


PETER  LE  MOYNE  61 

and  fruitful  of  promise  in  the  coming  autumn. 
The  countr}-,  largely  flooded,  would  have  seemed 
uninhabited  save  for  the  Indian  ferry-boats,  bun- 
dles of  cane  pointed  at  both  ends  and  fastened 
together  by  crossbars  of  wood,  and  an  occasional 
column  of  smoke  rising  in  the  distant  blue.  The 
rapid  current  obliged  the  oarsmen  to  hug  the 
bank  closely,  while  diminishing  food  and  increas- 
ing piles  of  drift-wood  discouraged  them  ;  but  the 
indomitable  Iberville  cheered  on  his  Canadians, 
and  on  the  fifth  day,  some  thirty-five  leagues  from 
the  river's  mouth,  six  pirogues,  or  canoes,  full 
of  Indians  were  seen.  The  savages  fled,  but  one 
was  captured,  and  through  him  communication 
and  friendly  overtures  were  established  with  the 
Annochys.  Through  these  Indians  Iberville  was 
taken  to  the  present  site  of  New  Orleans  and  was 
shown  the  portage  over  which  the  Indians  trav- 
elled to  Lake  Pontchartrain,  and  thence  to  the 
bay  where  the  ship  was  at  anchor.  Farther  up 
the  stream  Iberville  visited  the  village  of  the 
Bayougoulas,  which  consisted  of  about  two  hun- 
dred souls.  The  men,  well  made,  with  short  hair 
and  painted  faces,  stalked  around  most  uncon- 
cernedly in  a  naked  state.  The  women  blackened 
their  teeth,  tied  up  their  hair  in  a  top-knot,  tat- 
tooed their  faces  and  breasts,  and  wore  girdles 
woven  of  bark  fibre,  dyed  red  or  bleached  white, 
with  pendulous  fringes  reaching  to  the  knee. 
The  ornaments  of  the  women  were  metal  brace 
lets  and  bangles  and  fancy  articles  made  of 
feathers,  while  the  young  braves  wore  sashes  of 
feathers,    which,    weighted    with    bits   of  metal, 


62  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

made  merry  sound  as  they  danced.  In  short, 
they  were  an  inoffensive  folk,  content  with  the 
simple  fruits  of  the  earth,  which  largely  served 
as  their  sustenance. 

Iberville  visited  one  of  their  temples,  a  struc- 
ture some  thirty  feet  in  diameter,  which  Charle- 
voix describes  as  follows:  "In  the  centre  were 
slowly  burning  logs  (keeping  up  a  perpetual 
fire),  and  at  the  end  a  platform  on  which  lay 
skins  of  deer,  buffalo,  and  bear,  offerings  to  the 
Chouchouacha  (the  opossum),  the  god  of  the 
Bayougoulas,  which  animal  was  painted  in  red 
and  black  at  various  points  in  the  temple.  The 
roof  was  decorated  with  the  figures  of  various 
animals,  among  which  a  red  fox  was  conspicuous. 
On  either  side  of  the  entrance  were  other  ani- 
mal figures,  such  as  bears  and  wolves  and  also 
various  birds,  but  above  all  the  Chouchouacha 
(the  opossum),  an  animal  about  the  size  and 
having  the  head  of  the  sucking  pig,  the  white 
and  gray  fur  of  the  badger,  the  tail  of  the  rat, 
the  paws  of  an  ape,  and  a  sack  under  its 
stomach." 

The  great  discrepancies  between  the  topogra- 
phy of  the  river  and  the  descriptions  given  in 
the  accounts  of  the  journeys  of  La  Salle  and 
Tonti  so  impressed  Iberville  that  he  was  really 
doubtful  if  he  was  on  the  Mississippi,  and  so  his 
journey  was  pursued  up  the  river  to  the  Oumas, 
a  short  distance  below  the  mouth  of  the  Red 
River.  Fortunately  his  brother,  Bienville,  ob- 
tained from  an  Indian  chief  a  letter,  which  the 
savage  had  carried  for  thirteen  years,  given  him 


PETER  LE  MOYNE 


63 


by  Tonti,  who  descended  the  river  from  Illinois 
in  1686  and  left  this  letter  addressed  to  La  Salle, 
whose  active  and  loyal  assistant  Tonti  was. 

Iberville  was  now  over  seven  hundred  miles 
distant  from  his  ship,  and  his  original  stock  of 


lie's  Army  on  the   River. 


provisions  was  exhausted,  so  that  the  men  were 
obliged  to  live  on  the  corn  of  the  Indians  and 
such  meat  or  game  as  could  be  bought  or  killed. 
Sending  his  men  back  by  the  delta  with  the 
barges,  Iberville  decided  to  try  himself  the 
route  of  portages  to  the  Gulf.  With  an  Indian 
guide  he  entered  the  Ascantia,  a  narrow,  winding 
bayou,  where  with  his  four  Canadians  and  two 


64  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

pirogues  fifty  portages  over  fallen  trees  and  drift 
were  made  the  first  day  in  a  distance  of  seven 
leagues.  It  is  not  surprising  that  the  Indian 
guide,  unaccustomed  to  such  tremendous  labor 
and  fatigue,  deserted  the  second  day.  Iberville 
none  the  less  pushed  on  undauntedly,  confident 
that  he  could  reach  his  ship  through  this  un- 
known country,  guide  or  no  guide.  Next,  one 
of  his  hardy  Canadians  fell  sick,  and  Iberville 
took  his  place  and  oar,  and  in  the  portages  car- 
ried his  end  of  a  pirogue.  After  eighty  por- 
tages they  passed  into  Lake  Maurepas  and  next 
into  Lake  Pontchartrain,  whence  the  way  was 
easy  to  the  ship,  which  was  reached  eight  hours 
in  advance  of  the  barges  from  the  delta. 

In  his  absence  of  six  weeks  Iberville  had  found 
again  the  Mississippi,  explored  its  shores  almost 
to  the  Red  River,  made  friends  with  all  its  native 
tribes,  discovered  the  short  route  to  the  sea,  trav- 
elled about  fifteen  hundred  miles,  and  had  returned 
to  his  ship  with  every  man  of  his  party.  What  vol- 
umes these  few  facts  speak  for  the  energy,  tact, 
skill,  and  foresight  of  this  wonderful  Canadian ! 

Casting  about  for  a  convenient  spot  Iberville 
decided  to  build  his  fort  at  the  head  of  Biloxi 
Bay,  and  in  this  unfortunate  location,  under  the 
spurring  supervision  of  the  chief,  Fort  Biloxi  soon 
rose,  and  there  on  Easter  Sunday  mass  was  cele- 
brated, vespers  sung,  and  a  sermon  preached. 
On  May  2,  1700,  Iberville  sailed  for  France,  leav- 
ing his  lieutenant,  Sauvole,  as  the  first  governor 
of  the  province  of  Louisiana  and  Bienville  second 
in  command. 


PETER  LE  MOYNE  65 

The  action  of  France  and  the  desperate  haste 
of  Iberville  in  occupying  the  mouth  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi were  most  timely.  The  very  month  in 
which  our  Canadian  sailed  from  Brest  an  expedi- 
tion left  England  under  the  auspices  of  Mr.  Cox, 
who  sent  out  three  vessels  loaded  with  emigrants. 
They  wintered  in  the  Carolinas,  where  many 
settled,  but  in  1700  two  ships  continued  their 
voyage  to  the  Mississippi.  One  of  these  vessels 
was  commanded  by  a  Captain  Banks,  who  once 
captured  by  Iberville  in  Hudson  Bay  now  found 
himself  worsted  by  his  rival  in  the  peaceful  work 
of  colonization.  One  of  the  English  ships  ap- 
peared in  the  lower  Mississippi,  into  which  Banks 
had  found  entrance,  in  September,  1700.  Bien- 
ville, with  five  men  and  two  pirogues,  met  the 
English  vessel,  and  setting  forth  to  the  captain 
that  France  was  in  possession  of  all  the  surround- 
ing country,  succeeded  either  by  argument  or 
cajolery  in  persuading  the  captain  to  withdraw 
from  the  Mississippi. 

Iberville  was  not  long  delayed  by  the  delights 
and  pleasures  of  the  French  court,  but  speedily 
returned  to  Biloxi,  where  he  arrived  on  the  eve 
of  Twelfth  Night  with  supplies,  and  more  im- 
portant of  all,  with  sixty  hardy  and  energetic 
Canadians,  with  whom  he  established  a  fort  a  short 
distance  below  the  present  site  of  New  Orleans. 
The  winter  proved  a  very  cold  one,  the  drinking- 
water  freezing  in  the  cui)s,  but  it  did  not  dela}'  the 
rapid  progress  of  the  new  fort.  In  the  midst  of 
this  work  Chevalier  de  Tonti  arrived  with  twenty 
Canadians  from  their  former  settlement  in  Illinois, 
5 


m  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

Thus  for  the  first  time,  with  intercommunica- 
tion established  between  the  permanent  settle- 
ment in  lUinois,  Tonti's  fort  on  the  Arkansas,  and 
the  new  colony  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi, 
Iberville  felt  that  France  had  indeed  entered  into 
actual  possession  of  its  great  province  of  Lou- 
isiana. He  realized,  however,  the  necessity  of 
permanently  connecting  these  settlements,  many 
hundred  miles  apart,  and  of  facilitating  intercom- 
munication through  the  establishment  of  inter- 
mediate posts. 

Iberville  contemplated  an  exploration  of  the 
Red  River,  thinking  it  might  afford  access  to  the 
gold  and  silver  mines  of  New  Spain,  but  aban- 
doned the  project  owing  to  the  representations 
of  the  Indians  that  the  river  was  unnavigable 
from  the  interlaced  drift-wood,  later  known  as 
rafts.  He  turned  his  attention  to  the  main  river, 
the  Mississippi,  and  visited  the  Natchez,  a  brave 
and  powerful  tribe  of  Indians,  whose  country 
delighted  his  heart  as  resembling  France,  and 
where  he  planned  a  city  to  be  called  Rosalie 
(now  Natchez),  which,  however,  it  was  not  his 
fate  to  ever  see  take  definite  form,  as  it  was  only 
built  long  after  his  death,  in  1714,  by  his  brother 
Bienville.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Le  Sueur, 
sent  up  the  Mississippi  by  Iberville,  discovered 
the  St.  Peter  River,  in  Minnesota,  and  attempt- 
ing mining  operations,  later  brought  back  a 
worthless  cargo  of  green  earth.  To  Iberville's 
credit,  it  may  be  said,  he  viewed  this  and  many 
other  similar  schemes  of  development  with  a 
sceptical  and  practical  eye. 


PETER  LE  MOYNE  67 

Later  he  sent  his  brother  Bienville  across 
country  to  explore  the  Red  River,  which  was 
done  with  good  success.  His  priest  Montigny 
was  also  active  in  extending  the  faith,  both 
among  the  Natchez  Indians  and  in  the  basin  of 
the  Tensas  River.  Indeed,  every  effort  was 
made  under  Iberville's  sagacious  direction  to 
obtain  a  knowledge  of  the  possibilities  of  the 
country,  so  that  its  resources  might  be  properly 
developed. 

Iberville  returned  to  France  ill  with  fever,  but 
despite  his  disease,  he  displayed  extraordinary 
energy  in  personally  advancing  the  practical 
affairs  of  his  new  colony.  Moreover,  he  prepared 
a  memoir  urging  the  cession  of  Pensacola  by 
Spain  to  France,  which  nation  was  to  establish 
forts  and  arm  the  Indians  along  the  Mississippi 
River,  whereby  the  interior  of  America  from 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  Canada  would  be  under 
French  domination,  save  the  narrow  strip  along 
the  Atlantic  coast  already  occupied  by  England. 
It  was  a  sagacious  scheme  which  if  it  had  been 
properly  supported  by  France  would  have  en- 
tirely changed  the  future  of  America.  It  re- 
ceived, however,  but  a  perfunctory  support,  and 
only  resulted  in  exciting  the  jealousy  of  Spain. 

Iberville's  last  voyage  to  Louisiana  was  made 
in  1 701,  when  his  health,  undermined  by  the 
climate,  was  impaired  by  the  formation  of  an 
abscess  which  confined  him  to  his  bed  for  two 
months.  His  mind  worked  incessantly,  and  his 
activity  through  other  hands  was  wonderful. 
He  planned  the  royal  magazines  on   Dauphine 


68  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

Island,  located  the  new  post  on  Mobile  River, 
told  off  the  relief  of  workmen  for  the  various  en- 
terprises, planned  fiat-boats  for  lighters,  extended 
relief  to  the  Spaniards  at  Vera  Cruz,  and  sent 
Tonti  as  an  agent  to  make  peace  with  the  Choc- 
taws  and  Chickasaws  and  secure  them  as  allies. 
His  sailor's  eye  was  particularly  pleased  with 
the  magnificent  forests  of  Mobile  Bay,  where  the 
oaks  and  pines  presented  the  finest  timber  for 
ship-building  he  had  ever  seen. 

With  Mobile  commenced,  the  royal  storehouses 
erected,  and  the  alliance  of  the  Choctaws  and 
Chickasaws  secured,  Iberville  felt  that  the  colony 
of  Louisiana  was  on  a  secure  foundation,  and  on 
March  31st  he  sailed  from  Dauphine  Island,  then 
the  headquarters  of  that  colony  for  which  he 
had  done  so  much,  and  which  he  was  destined 
never  again  to  see. 

The  domain  of  Louisiana,  obtained  by  so  much 
heroic  endeavor  and  individual  suffering  on  the 
part  of  Joliet,  Marquette,  La  Salle,  Tonti,  Iber- 
ville, and  their  associates,  passed  at  once,  by  an 
edict  of  Louis  XIV.,  into  a  monopoly  and  under 
the  control  of  a  courtier,  Anton  Crozat,  for  trad- 
ing purposes,  by  the  decree  of  September  14, 
1 712.  In  this  decree  the  limits  of  Louisiana  were 
for  the  first  time  defined,  including  "  all  the 
territories  by  us  (France)  possessed,  and  bounded 
by  New  Mexico  and  by  those  of  the  English  in 
Carolina.  .  .  .  The  river  St.  Louis,  formerly 
called  the  Mississippi,  from  the  sea-shore  to  the 
Illinois,  together  with  the  rivers  St.  Phillipe,  for- 
merly called  the  Missouries,  and  the  St.  Jerome, 


PETER  LE  MOTNE  69 

formerly  called  the  Wabash  (the  Ohio),  with  all 
the  countries,  territories,  lakes  in  the  land,  and 
the  rivers  emptying  directly  or  indirectly  into 
that  part  of  the  river  St.  Louis.  All  the  said 
territories,  countries,  rivers,  streams,  and  islands 
we  will  to  be  and  remain  comprised  under  the 
name  of  the  government  of  Louisiana." 

There  was  another  and  blacker  page  to  the 
decree,  whereby  Crozat  was  further  authorized 
to  introduce  African  slavery :  "  If  the  aforesaid 
Sieur  Crozat  considers  it  advisable  to  have 
negroes  in  the  said  country  of  Louisiana,  for 
agriculture  or  other  use  on  plantations,  he  can 
send  a  ship  each  year  to  trade  directly  with 
the  Guinea  coast,  .  .  .  and  is  further  author- 
ized to  sell  negroes  to  the  settlers  of  Louisiana." 

But  prior  to  this  condition  of  affairs  the  great 
Canadian  naval  commander  had  passed  to  his 
final  reward,  having  died  of  yellow  fever  at 
Havana,  July  9,  1706.  The  last  leaf  in  his  his- 
tory was,  however,  an  effort,  through  his  per- 
sonal bravery  and  skill,  to  secure  French  domi- 
nation in  America  by  driving  out  of  the  Antilles 
the  determined  English  seamen  whose  success- 
ful raids  so  often  militated  against  the  interests 
of  France.  Despite  his  health,  undermined  by 
fevers,  Iberville  left  France  with  a  fleet  with 
which  he  hoped  to  carry  out  this  great  plan. 
Intending  to  make  a  descent  upon  Barbadoes,  he 
learned  that  the  English,  warned  of  his  plans, 
were  prepared  for  him.  He  therefore  seized  on 
the  islands  of  Nevis  and  St.  Christopher,  where 
his  fleet  captured  an  enormous  amount  of  booty 


70 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


of  all  kinds.  He  decided  next  to  ravage  the 
English  colonies  in  the  Carolinas,  but  stopping 
at  Havana  for  reinforcements  he  lost  his  own 
life  by  the  epidemic  which  destroyed  eight  hun- 
dred others  of  his  fleet. 

Among  the  qualities  of  this  great  Canadian  all 
must  admire  his  intrepidity  in  war,  his  skill  as  a 
navigator,  and  his  capacity  as  an  explorer ;  but 
beyond  these  were  the  astonishing  administra- 
tive ability  and  political  sagacity  which  he  dis- 
played in  such  an  eminent  degree  in  the  planning, 
founding,  and  fostering  of  the  great  province  of 
Louisiana. 


New  Orleans  in    1719. 


III. 

JONATHAN   CARVER, 

The  Explorer  of  Minnesota. 

Throughout  the  bloody  series  of  French  and 
Indian  wars  which  ravaged  the  frontier  settle- 
ments of  America  during  the  first  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  France  maintained  secure 
possession  of  the  regions  of  the  great  lakes  and 
the  basin  of  the  upper  Mississippi.  The  success- 
ful campaign  of  the  gallant  Wolfe  against  the  no 
less  gallant  Montcalm  ultimately  resulted  in  the 
termination  of  French  supremacy  in  these  sec- 
tions, and  under  the  treaty  of  Paris,  in  1763, 
Canada  with  all  other  dominions  of  France  east 
of  the  Mississippi  passed  under  the  control  of 
Great  Britain. 

To  this  time  the  English  colonists  had  con- 
fined their  operations  almost  entirely  to  the  re- 
gion of  the  Atlantic  Coast,  so  when  Gi'eat 
Britain  acquired  her  immense  war-inheritance 
the  country^to  the  west  of  the  Appalachian 
Mountain  range  was  practically  an  unknown  re- 
gion to  its  new  masters.  The  extension  of  Eng- 
lish settlements  toward  the  interior  of  the  con- 
tinent was  determined  on  by  the  English  Gov- 
ernment, and  the  more  accessible  of  the  French 
trading-posts  in  the  northwest  were  immediately 


72       EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

occupied.  Maps  were  few  and  inaccurate,  in- 
formation as  to  the  Indians  vague  and  exag- 
gerated, while  nothing  was  known  as  to  the 
resources  of  the  country  except  that  furs  were 
obtainable  in  large  numbers. 

Scarcely  were  the  terms  of  the  treaty  pro- 
mulgated than  the  enterprising  pioneers  moved 
westward  and  gradually  pressed  back  the  In- 
dians nearest  the  English  settlements.  A  few 
other  men,  however,  undertook  to  penetrate  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  very  frontier  of 
Louisiana,  which  remained  a  French  possession. 

Among  these  hardy  and  adventurous  Amer- 
icans the  most  enterprising  was  Captain  Jona- 
than Carver,  who  was  born  in  Stillwater,  N.  Y., 
in  1732.  He  was  the  grandson  of  William  Joseph 
Carver,  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  royal  appoint- 
ments in  Connecticut,  and  his  first  public  service 
was  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  when  he  secured  an 
ensigncy  in  a  Connecticut  regiment.  In  1757, 
when  Colonel  Oliver  Partridge  raised  a  battalion 
of  infantry  in  Massachusetts  to  serve  against 
Canada,  Carver  was  made  a  lieutenant  therein. 
Later  he  served  as  captain  under  Colonel  Whit- 
comb,  in  1760,  and  under  Colonel  Saltonstall,  in 
1762,  and  participated  in  the  taking  of  Crown 
Point  and  other  operations  in  northern  New 
York. 

Doubtless  his  association  with  scouts  and 
camp-followers,  largely  consisting  of  fur-traders 
and  frontiersmen,  induced  a  lively  interest  in 
their  accounts  of  the  western  country  held  by 
their  enemies,  the  Indian  and  the  Frenchman. 


JONATHAN  CARVER  73 

Certain  it  is  that  Carver  acquired  such  ideas  of 
the  extent,  fertility,  natural  wealth,  and  possi- 
bilities of  the  great  and  unknown  West  as  fired 
his  adventurous  spirit  with  a  firm  determination 
to  solve  the  important  geographical  problenis 
connected  therewith. 

His  objects,  he  states,  were  to  gain  knowledge 
concerning  the  Indian  tribes  to  the  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  to  ascertain  the  natural  resources  of 
the  country,  and  to  cross  the  American  continent 
between  the  forty-third  and  forty-sixth  degrees 
of  north  latitude.  Ultimately  he  contemplated 
the  establishment  of  a  trading-post  at  some  suit- 
able point  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 

Carver  was  not  ignorant  of  the  great  danger 
involved  in  such  an  undertaking,  where  he  was 
obliged  to  intrust  his  life  to  the  mercy  of  un- 
known Indians  for  a  prolonged  time.  Indeed, 
considering  his  experiences  at  the  massacre  of 
Englishmen  and  provincials  at  Fort  Henry,  it 
seems  surprising  that  he  would  ever  trust  a  savage 
or  a  Frenchman.  In  the  campaign  of  1757,  Carver 
volunteered  to  accompany  the  detachment  of  fif- 
teen hundred  men  which  General  Webb  sent 
forward  to  reinforce  the  garrison  at  Fort  Henry, 
then  anticipating  an  attack  from  Montcalm.  The 
garrison,  commanded  by  the  gallant  Monro,  who 
resisted  until  his  guns  burst  and  his  ammunition 
was  nearly  exhausted,  surrendered  to  the  com- 
bined force  of  Indians  and  French  nnder  Mont- 
calm, who  promised  safe  conduct  and  private 
property.  As  the  English  force  moved  out  the 
next  morning  the   Indians,  inflamed    by  liquor. 


74  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

song,  and  dance,  butchered  the  sick  and  wound- 
ed and  then  fell  upon  the  helpless  captives,  of 
whom  there  were,  according  to  French  accounts, 
about  sixty  killed  and  four  hundred  robbed  and 
maltreated.  Montcalm  and  Levi,  to  their  credit, 
though  too  late,  made  heroic  personal  efforts 
which  mitigated  the  horrors  of  the  situation. 

Among  the  unfortunates  was  Carver,  who, 
robbed  and  stripped  by  the  savages,  appealed  to 
a  French  sentry  for  protection  only  to  be  re- 
pelled with  abuse.     Realizing  finally  that  to  re- 


Indian  Tomahawk. 
(From  Carver's  Book.) 


main  quiet  was  to  meet  certain  death.  Carver 
and  a  few  others  attempted  to  escape  by  break- 
ing unarmed  through  the  surrounding  lines  of 
Indian  fiends.  In  this  desperate  effort  for  life 
Carver  was  twice  wounded,  badly  beaten,  seized 
by  two  Indians,  and  led  away  to  death,  which 
he  escaped  by  the  appearance  of  a  British  officer 
in  full  uniform,  who  was  such  a  prize  that  his 
captors  left  Carver  to  secure  a  more  valuable 
victim.  Profiting  by  the  respite  Carver  fled  to 
the  nearest  woods,  where,  exhausted  and  nearly 
naked,  he  concealed  himself  in  a  thicket  until 
night.     For  three  days  he  wandered  through  the 


JONATHAN  CARVER  75 

densest  part  of  the  forest,  suffering  tortures  from 
travel  under  such  conditions,  often  in  danger  of 
recapture,  and  without  food  until  he  reached,  in 
a  nearly  exhausted  condition,  the  English  settle- 
ments. 

An  attempt  at  transcontinental  exploration 
was  then  looked  on  as  foolhardy  and  visionary 
in  the  extreme,  even  to  those  friends  of  Carver 
who  never  deserted  him.  One  of  these,  Dr. 
Lettsom,  wrote  in  the  third  edition  of  Carver's 
travels,  fifteen  years  after  the  journey,  as  follows : 
"  He  suggested  an  attempt  by  land  across  the 
northwest  parts  of  America,  and  actuall}-  drew  a 
chart  of  his  proposed  route  for  effecting  his  pro- 
ject, which,  however  visionary  it  may  now  be 
deemed,  affords  at  least  a  proof  of  the  enterpris- 
ing spirit  of  Carver." 

Unmoved  by  the  sneers  of  his  critics,  and  un- 
deterred by  recollections  of  Indian  cruelty  and 
perfidy,  Carver  arranged  the  details  of  his  jour- 
ney at  his  private  expense,  and  in  June,  1766, 
he  quitted  Boston,  and  travelling  by  the  way 
of  Albany  and  Niagara  reached  his  headquar- 
ters, Michillimackinac,  now  known  as  Mackinac. 
Here  he  made  definite  arrangements  for  his  seri- 
ous work  of  exploration.  At  this  time  English 
traders  extended  their  journeys  to  Prairie-du- 
Chien  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  furs  from 
Indians  rendezvousing  there,  and  with  one  of 
these  parties  Carver  was  to  travel,  relying  on  the 
Governor  of  Mackinaw  to  forward  supplies  to 
St.  Anthony.  Leaving  the  Fort,  September  3d, 
and  travelling  by  canoe,  he  reached  the  islands 


76  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

of  the  Grand  Traverse,  and  there  spent  one  night. 
One  of  the  chiefs,  to  whom  a  present  was  given, 
made,  on  Carver's  departure,  the  following  prayer, 
which  is  worthy  of  reproduction  as  a  specimen 
of  Indian  eloquence :  "  May  the  Great  Spirit 
favor  you  with  a  prosperous  voyage ;  may  He 
give  you  an  unclouded  sky  and  smooth  waters 
by  day,  and  may  you  lay  down  by  night  on  a 
beaver  blanket  to  uninterrupted  sleep  and  pleas- 
ant dreams,  and  may  you  find  continual  protec- 
tion under  the  calumet  of  peace." 

Carver  followed  the  route  of  Joliet  and  Mar- 
quette through  Green  Bay  and  up  Fox  River 
to  the  great  town  of  the  Winnebagoes,  where  he 
found  the  Indians  presided  over  by  a  queen  in- 
stead of  a  sachem.  Carver  speaks  of  the  extreme 
richness  of  soil  and  abundance  of  cultivated  prod- 
ucts and  wild  game,  mentioning  grapes,  plums, 
Indian  corn,  beans,  pumpkins,  squashes,  water- 
melons, and  tobacco  from  cultivation ;  fish  from 
the  lake ;  wild  fowl  so  abundant  that  frequently 
the  sun  would  be  obscured  by  them  for  some 
minutes  together,  while  deer,  bears,  and  beavers 
were  very  numerous.  The  usual  portage  was 
made  by  him  from  the  Fox  to  the  Wisconsin 
River,  into  which  his  canoes  were  launched  on 
the  8th  of  October.  Seven  days  carried  him  to 
Prairie-du-Chien,  at  the  junction  of  the  Wiscon- 
sin and  Mississippi,  which  was  at  that  time  a 
town  of  some  three  hundred  families  and  had 
become  a  great  trading  mart  for  the  adjacent 
tribes,  who  assembled  in  great  numbers  annually 
in  the  latter  part  of  May. 


78  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

At  Prairie-du-Chien  Carver  parted  with  the 
traders,  who  were  to  winter  at  that  point,  and  ob- 
taining a  Canadian  as  interpreter  and  a  Mohawk 
Indian  as  a  servant,  he  purchased  a  canoe,  and 
on  October  19th,  proceeding  up  the  Mississippi, 
he  fell  in  with  a  straggling  band  of  Indians  which 
barely  failed  of  plundering  him.  November  ist 
brought  him  to  Lake  Pepin,  near  which  he  dis- 
covered what  appeared  to  be  the  remains  of 
extended  intrenchments,  centuries  old,  as  he 
thought,  but  which  are  now  known  to  be  Indian 
mounds,  probably  erected  as  sites  for  their  wig- 
wams, so  as  to  keep  them  above  the  annual  over- 
flow and  inundation. 

The  coming  of  winter  and  the  forming  of  river 
ice  obliged  him  to  quit  his  canoe  opposite  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Peter,  or  Minnesota  River, 
whence  by  land  he  reached  the  Falls  of  St.  An- 
thony on  November  17,  1766,  probably  the  first 
white  American  to  visit  them. 

The  noise  and  appearance  of  the  Falls  of  St. 
Anthony  impressed  Carver  very  strongly,  and 
his  account  of  them  is  worthy  of  reproduction  in 
view  of  the  changes  that  have  taken  place  within 
the  past  one  hundred  and  thirty  years : 

"  This  amazing  body  of  waters,  which  are 
above  250  yards  over,  form  a  most  pleasing  cata- 
ract ;  they  fall  perpendicularly  about  thirty  feet, 
and  the  rapids  below,  in  the  space  of  300  yards 
more,  render  the  descent  considerably  greater  ; 
so  that  when  viewed  at  a  distance,  they  appear 
to  be  much  higher  than  they  really  are. 

"  In  the  middle  of  the  Falls  stands  a  small  island 


JONATHAN  CARVER  79 

about  forty  feet  broad  and  somewhat  longer,  on 
which  grow  a  few  cragged  hemlock  and  spruce 
trees;  and  about  half  way  between  this  island 
and  the  eastern  shore  is  a  rock  lying  at  the  very 
edge  of  the  Fall,  in  an  oblique  position,  that  ap- 
pears to  be  about  five  or  six  feet  broad  and  thirty 
or  forty  long." 

Leaving  the  falls.  Carver  proceeded  up  the 
Mississippi  to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Francis,  the 
farthest  of  Hennepin  in  1680,  discovering  on  the 
way  Rum  and  Goose  Rivers.  Warned  by  the 
severity  of  the  cold  that  winter  was  fast  coming 
on,  Carver  returned  to  his  canoe  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Minnesota  River  and  decided  to  explore  that 
stream,  of  which  only  the  lower  portion  had  ever 
been  visited — by  Le  Sueur  in  1700. 

Following  the  Minnesota  about  two  hundred 
miles  he  reached,  on  December  7th,  the  winter 
camp  of  a  large  tribe  of  Indians,  about  one  thou- 
sand in  number,  who  were  designated  by  Carver 
as  the  Naudo wessie  (Santees).  Advancing  boldly, 
with  his  calumet  of  peace  fastened  to  the  prow  of 
his  canoe,  he  was  received  in  a  friendly  manner. 
After  the  usual  smoking  of  the  pipe  of  peace, 
during  which  he  says  the  tent  was  nearly  broken 
down  by  the  crowd  of  savages,  who,  as  a  rule, 
had  never  seen  a  white  man,  he  was  treated  with 
great  respect. 

Among  these  Indians  Carver  passed  the  win- 
ter, filling  in  his  five  months'  stay  by  hunting  and 
other  Indian  amusements.  From  the  Indians  he 
learned  that  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  Mississipi)i,  and 
the  Bourbon  (the  Red  River  of  the  North)  had 


80 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


their  sources  within  thirty  miles  of  each  other. 
This  led  to  the  natural  but  erroneous  opinion 
that  Carver  had  reached  the  highest  land  of 
North  America,  when  in  reality  he  was  at  an  ele- 
vation of  only  twelve  hundred  feet. 

Carver  also  spoke  of  "  the  Oregon,  or  the  River 
of  the  West,"  as  having  its  sources  somewhat 
farther  to  the  west.     This  is  the  first  time  that 


A  Calumet. 
(From  Carver's  Book.) 


the  word  Oregon  appears  in  literature,  and  Car- 


The  Indians  had  traditions  as  to  the  extreme 
plentifulness  of  gold  to  the  west  of  the  "  Shining 
Mountains,"  of  which  our  explorer  says,  on  the 
strength  of  Indian  reports  : 

"  The  mountains  that  lie  to  the  west  of  St. 
Peter  are  called  the  Shining  Mountains,  from  an 
infinite  number  of  crystal  stones  of  an  amazing 
size  with  which  they  are  covered   and    which, 


JONATHAN  CARVER  81 

when  the  sun  shines  full  upon  them,  sparkle  so 
as  to  be  seen  at  a  very  great  distance." 

Carver's  enthusiasm  and  interest  in  the  West 
led  him  to  make  the  following  striking  predic- 
tion, which  time  has  fully  justified.     He  says : 

"  This  extraordinary  range  of  mountains  is 
calculated  to  be  more  than  three  thousand  miles 
in  length,  without  any  very  considerable  inter- 
vals, which,  I  believe,  surpasses  anything  of  the 
kind  in  the  other  quarters  of  the  globe.  Prob- 
ably, in  future  ages,  they  may  be  found  to  con- 
tain more  riches  in  their  bowels  than  those  of 
Hindostan  and  Malabar,  or  than  are  produced 
on  the  golden  coast  of  Guinea,  nor  will  I  except 
even  the  Peruvian  mines.  To  the  west  of  these 
mountains,  when  explored  by  future  Columbuses 
or  Raleighs,  may  be  found  other  lakes,  rivers, 
and  countries,  full  fraught  with  all  the  neces- 
saries or  luxuries  of  life,  and  where  future 
generations  may  find  an  asylum,  whether  driven 
from  their  country  by  the  ravages  of  lawless 
tyrants,  or  by  religious  persecutions,  or  reluc- 
tantly leaving  it  to  remedy  the  inconveniences 
arising  from  a  superabundant  increase  of  in- 
habitants ;  whether,  I  say,  impelled  by  these  or 
allured  by  hopes  of  commercial  advantages, 
there  is  little  doubt  but  their  expectations  will 
be  fully  gratified  in  these  rich  and  unexhausted 
climes." 

Carver  described  the  valley  of  the  Minnesota 

as  a  most  delightful  country,  abounding  with  all 

the  necessities  of  life,  which  grow  spontaneously. 

Fruit,  vegetables,  and  nuts  were  represented  as 

6 


82  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

being  particularly  abundant,  and  the  sugar-maple 
grew  in  amazing  numbers. 

In  April,  1767,  the  Santees  descended  the 
Minnesota  in  order,  among  other  things,  to  bury 
their  dead  near  a  remarkable  cave  on  Lake  Pepin, 
known  to  the  Indians  as  the  "  dwelling  of  the 
Great  Spirit." 

Finding  that  supplies  had  not  been  sent  to  the 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  Carver  returned  to  Prairie- 
du-Chien  in  order  to  get  sufficient  stores  to 
enable  him  to  reach  Lake  Superior,  whence  he 
hoped  to  be  able  to  cross  the  continent  from 
Grand  Portage.  Obtaining  such  supplies,  he 
proceeded  up  the  Mississippi  to  the  Chippeway 
River,  and,  after  ascending  to  its  head,  made 
portages  to  the  St.  Croix,  and  reached  Lake 
Superior,  possibl)^  by  the  river  now  known  as 
the  Bois  Brule. 

From  this  point  Carver,  in  his  canoe,  skirted 
the  coast  of  Lake  Superior  to  the  Grand  Por- 
tage, where  he  awaited  the  arrival  of  the  Hudson 
Bay  or  northern  traders,  from  whom  he  anxiously 
hoped  to  obtain  supplies  that  would  enable  him 
to  journey  west ;  but  he  was  destined  to  dis- 
appointment, as  nothing  could  be  obtained  from 
them.  Carver  coasted  around  the  north  and  east 
borders  of  Lake  Superior,  and  arrived  at  the  Falls 
of  Ste.  Marie  the  beginning  of  October,  having 
skirted  nearly  twelve  hundred  miles  of  the  shores 
of  Lake  Superior  in  a  birch  canoe. 

The  Sault  Ste.  Marie  was  then  the  resort  of  the 
Algonquin  Indians,  who  frequented  the  falls  on 
account  of  the  great  numbers  of  whitefish  that 


JONATHAN  CARVER  83 

filled  the  waters,  particularly  in  the  autumn, 
when  that  fish  leaves  the  lakes  in  order  to  spawn 
in  shallow  running  waters. 

In  November,  1767,  Carver  arrived  at  Mack- 
inac, having,  as  he  says,  "  been  sixteen  months 
on  this  extensive  tour,  travelled  nearly  four 
thousand  miles,  and  visited  twelve  nations  ot 
Indians  living  to  the  west  and  north.  His  pict- 
ure of  Detroit  on  his  return,  in  1768,  is  of  re- 
trospective interest. 

"  The  town  of  Detroit  contains  upward  of  one 
hundred  houses.  The  streets  are  somewhat 
regular,  and  have  a  range  of  very  convenient 
and  handsome  barracks  with  a  spacious  parade 
at  the  south  end.  On  the  west  side  lies  the 
King's  Garden,  belonging  to  the  Governor, 
which  is  very  well  laid  out,  and  kept  in  good 
order.  The  fortifications  of  the  town  consist  of 
a  strong  stockade,  made  of  round  piles,  fixed 
firmly  in  the  ground,  and  lined  with  palisades. 
These  are  defended  by  some  small  bastions,  on 
which  are  mounted  a  few  indifferent  cannon  of  an 
inconsiderable  size,  just  sufficient  for  its  defence 
against  the  Indians  or  an  enemy  not  provided 
with  artillery.  The  garrison  in  time  of  peace 
consists  of  two  hundred  men,  commanded  by 
a  field-officer,  who  acts  as  chief  magistrate  under 
the  Governor  of  Canada. 

"In  the  year  1762,  in  the  month  of  July,  it 
rained  on  this  town  and  the  parts  adjacent  a 
sulphurous  water  of  the  color  and  consistency  of 
ink,  some  of  which  being  collected  in  bottles, 
and  wrote  with,  appeared  perfectly  intelligible 


84  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

on  the  paper,  and  answered  every  purpose  for 
that  useful  liquid.  Soon  after,  the  Indian  wars 
already  spoken  of  broke  out  in  these  parts.  I 
mean  not  to  say  that  this  incident  was  ominous 
of  them,  notwithstanding  it  is  well  known  that 
innumerable  well-attested  instances  of  extraor- 
dinary phenomena,  happening  before  extraor- 
dinary events,  have  been  recorded  in  almost  every 
age  by  historians  of  veracity ;  I  only  relate  the 
circumstance  as  a  fact,  of  which  I  was  informed 
by  many  persons  of  undoubted  probity,  and 
leave  my  readers,  as  I  have  heretofore  done,  to 
draw  their  own  conclusions  from  it." 

It  is  beyond  question  that  certain  chapters  of 
Carver's  work,  supplementary  to  his  account  of 
his  personal  explorations,  and  especially  devoted 
to  Indians  and  to  the  natural  history  of  the 
Northwest,  are  practically  translations  of  the  ac- 
counts of  Charlevoix,  Hennepin,  and  particular- 
ly of  Lahontan.  It  does  not  appear  from  the 
first  part  of  the  work  that  Carver  was  a  man 
endowed  with  those  powers  of  observation  and 
assimilation  which  are  essential  traits  for  the 
successful  traveller  and  author. 

When  the  brief  recital  of  his  personal  travels  is 
examined,  it  seems  difficult  to  determine  on  what 
grounds  his  truthfulness  has  been  questioned  by 
a  few  hostile  critics.  His  story  is  simple  and 
straightforward,  devoid  of  boastfulness,  free 
from  any  exaggeration  as  to  his  personal  prowess, 
and  the  statement  that  he  passed  a  winter  of  five 
months  in  the  valley  of  the  Upper  Minnesota  is, 
in  my  opinion,  worthy  of  entire  credence. 


JONATHAN  CARVER 


85 


Fortunately,  however,  evidence  of  the  most 
convincing  character  exists  as  to  Carver's  resi- 
dence among  the  Naudowessies  or  Santees.  The 
exhaustive  bibliography  of  the  Siouan  languages, 
by  Mr.  James  C.  Pilling,  indicates  that  Carver 
is  the  first  author  who  ever  published  a  vocabu- 
lary of  the  Santee  tongue,  and  its  length,  eight 
pages,  renders  it  evident  that  it  was  an  original 


Car\"er's  drawing  of  "  A  man  and  woman  of  the  Naudowessie,"  herewith  re- 
produced, if  somewhat  fanciful  in  its  details,  must  be  considered  of  historical  value 
as  indicating  in  the  main  the  costumes  of  the  Santees  when  first  visited  by  the  whites. 

compilation   which    must  have  required  consid- 
erable time  and  patience. 

The  importance  of  Carver's  charts  and  jour- 
nals at  that  time  was  evident  to  the  Lords  Com- 
missioners of  Trade  and  Plantations  in  England 
to  whom  Carver  was  referred  when  praying 
for  reimbursement  of  his  expenses.  Carver  ap- 
peared before  the  Board  and,  after  an  examina- 
tion, was  granted  authorit)'  to  publish  his  papers. 


86  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

Later,  after  Carver  had,  as  he  says,  disposed  of 
them  and  they  were  nearly  ready  for  the  press, 
an  order  was  issued  from  the  Council  Board  re- 
quiring him  to  immediately  turn  in  all  the  orig- 
inals of  his  charts,  journals,  and  other  papers 
relative  to  his  discoveries. 

Meanwhile  interest  in  the  extension  of  Eng- 
lish influence  into  the  interior  of  North  America 
was  waning  steadily  with  the  growing  convic- 
tion that  the  colonies  would  establish  their  in- 
dependence, and  the  Government  had  no  mind 
to  reimburse  an  enterprising  American,  even 
though  he  remained  loyal.  Carver  was  reduced 
gradually  to  the  greatest  straits,  was  compelled 
to  sell  his  book  for  a  pittance,  and  finally,  his 
end  hastened  by  lack  of  proper  food  and  suitable 
attendance,  died  in  the  direst  poverty  in  Lon- 
don, January  13,  1780, 

His  own  generation  could  best  judge  as  to  the 
timeliness  and  importance  of  Carver's  explora- 
tion, and  as  to  the  value  of  the  information  set 
forth  in  his  book  of  travels.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  no  less  than  twenty-three  editions  of  this 
book  have  appeared,  in  four  languages.  This, 
too,  at  a  time  when  the  war  of  independence 
naturally  destroyed  current  interest  in  the  ex- 
tension of  English  settlements  in  the  interior  of 
North  America. 

Explorations,  however,  are  wisel}^  esteemed 
by  posterity  according  to  the  results  which  flow 
therefrom  in  the  shape  of  definite  additions  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  world  or  in  the  more  impor- 
tant  direction   of   disclosing  lands   suitable  for 


JONATHAN  CARVER  87 

colonization.  In  this  latter  manner  the  explora- 
tion of  Jonathan  Carver  and  the  accounts  of  his 
travels  had  an  important  influence.  They  first 
brought  into  popular  and  accessible  form  in- 
formation and  ideas  concerning  the  interior 
parts  of  North  America  which  before  had  been 
practically  inaccessible  to  the  general  public  of 
England  and  America. 

Twent3--five  years  after  this  journey  toward 
the  "  Shining  Mountains  "  and  "  Oregon,  the 
River  of  the  West,"  the  ultimate  scheme  of 
Carver  found  its  justification  in  the  success  of 
Alexander  Mackenzie,  a  young  Scotchman,  who 
was  the  first  white  man  to  cross  the  continent  of 
America  to  the  north  of  Mexico  ;  and  yet  ten 
years  later  Lewis  and  Clark  were  despatched  on 
their  famous  expedition  which  explored  the  val- 
ley of  the  Columbia,  where  in  1810,  under  the 
energetic  management  of  John  Jacob  Astor, 
arose  the  trading-post  of  Astoria,  thus  turning 
into  reality  the  dreams  and  aspirations  of  Jona- 
than Carver,  the  soldier  and  explorer. 


IV. 

CAPTAIN   ROBERT   GRAY, 

The  Discoverer  of  the  Columbia  River. 

Within  the  past  century  no  American  ex- 
plorer has  contributed  more  materially  to  the 
welfare  of  the  United  States  and  to  its  maritime 
glory  than  Captain  Robert  Gray,  the  discoverer 
of  the  Columbia  River  and  the  first  circumnavi- 
gator who  carried  the  flag  of  the  United  States 
around  the  world. 

Robert  Gray  was  born  at  Tiverton,  R.  I.,  in 
May,  1757,  and  in  early  youth,  inspired  with 
the  spirit  of  independence  which  dominated  the 
American  Colonies,  entered  the  naval  service 
during  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  wherein  he 
served  with  credit  as  an  officer. 

At  the  termination  of  the  war  it  is  probable 
that  he  continued  his  natural  or  acquired  voca- 
tion as  a  seaman.  At  all  events,  we  find  him  first 
and  foremost  among  that  band  of  American  citi- 
zens whose  courage,  energy,  and  nautical  skill 
enabled  them  to  attain  unsurpassed  success  as 
whalers  and  sealers  in  the  Antarctic  Ocean,  as 
traders  dealing  direct  with  China,  or  as  explorers 
and  fur  dealers  on  the  unsurveyed  and  danger- 
ous coast  of  northwest  America. 


CAPTAIN  ROBERT  GRAY  89 

In  1787,  J.  Barrel!,  S.  Brown,  C.  Bulfinch,  J. 
Darby,  C.  Hatch,  and  J.  M.  Pintard,  merchants 
of  Boston,  associated  for  the  purpose  of  combin- 
ing the  fur  traffic  of  the  northwest  coast  of 
America  with  the  silk  and  tea  trade  of  China. 
For  this  purpose  they  sent,  under  the  command 
of  Captain  John  Kendrick,  in  1787,  the  ship 
Columbia  and  the  sloop  Washington  with  car- 
goes of  blankets,  knives,  iron  bars,  and  other 
articles  suitable  for  the  northwest  trade.  They 
were  provided  with  sea  letters  issued  according 
to  a  resolution  of  Congress,  with  passports  from 
the  State  of  Massachusetts,  and  with  commenda- 
tory letters  from  the  Spanish  minister  plenipo- 
tentiary to  the  United  States. 

Captain  Kendrick,  who  commanded  the  Co- 
lumbia, was  a  man  of  marked  ability  and  great 
energy,  who  withal  had  most  enthusiastic  opin- 
ions as  to  the  future  of  the  Pacific  Coast  re- 
gion, which  he  believed  would  in  a  few  years 
utterly  dwarf  the  growing  importance  of  the 
Atlantic  seaboard.  Gray  was  the  master  of  the 
Washington,  and  his  professional  standing  in 
the  eyes  of  the  merchants  of  Boston  was  shown 
by  his  designation  as  the  most  desirable  officer 
to  assume  command  in  case  of  death  or  injury  to 
Captain  Kendrick. 

Many  aspersions  have  been  cast  by  English 
writers  on  the  policy  pursued  and  methods  fol- 
lowed by  Americans  engaged  in  trading  with 
the  Indians  of  the  northwest  coast  of  America. 
Doubtless  such  reflections  were  justified  in  indi- 
vidual cases  of  Americans,  as  of  traders  of  other 


90  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

nationality ;  but  the  instructions  given  by  the  mer- 
chants of  Boston  to  Kendrick  and  Gray  show 
that  fair,  honest,  and  peaceful  methods  were 
regarded  as  the  true  means  of  establishing  a  per- 
manent and  profitable  trade.  Among  other  in- 
junctions were  the  following : 

"  If  you  make  any  fort  or  any  improvement  of 
land  on  the  coast,  be  sure  you  purchase  the  soil 
of  the  natives.  .  .  .  Let  the  instrument  of 
conveyance  bear  every  authentic  mark  that  cir- 
cumstances will  admit.  ,  .  .  We  cannot  for- 
bear to  impress  on  your  mind  our  will  and  ex- 
pectation that  the  most  inviolable  harmony  and 
friendship  may  subsist  between  you  and  the 
natives,  and  that  no  advantage  may  be  taken  of 
them  in  trading,  but  that  you  endeavor  by 
honest  conduct  to  impress  on  their  minds  a  friend- 
ship for  Americans."  While  enjoining  peace,  it 
was  not  to  be  a  peace  on  any  terms,  for  thus  runs 
the  instructions :  "  The  sea  letters  from  Con- 
gress and  this  State  you  will  show  on  every 
proper  occasion,  and  although  we  expect  you 
will  treat  all  nations  with  respect  and  civility, 
yet  we  depend  you  will  suffer  insult  and  injury 
from  none  without  showing  that  spirit  which 
becomes  a  free  and  independent  American." 

The  vessels  sailed  from  Boston  September  30, 
1787,  via  the  Cape  Verde  and  Faulkland  Islands, 
and  in  January  doubled  Cape  Horn,  when  they 
thought  the  perils  of  storm  were  past.  In  lati- 
tude 59°  S.,  however,  a  violent  gale  arose,  which 
not  only  separated  them,  but  also  seriously  dam- 
aged the  Columbia.     The  storm  over,  Kendrick 


CAPTAIN  ROBERT  GRAY  91 

found  himself  in  a  sad  plight,  his  consort  gone, 
perhaps  lost,  his  ship  in  an  unseaworthy  con- 
dition, and  the  nearest  spot  for  repairs  a  thou- 
sand miles  distant.  This  port,  that  of  the  island 
of  Juan  Fernandez,  if  now  famous  and  delight- 
ful to  the  adventurous  mind  through  its  asso- 
ciations with  the  fascinating  tale  of  Robinson 
Crusoe,  was  then  most  objectionable  from  the 
fact  that  it  was  under  Spanish  rule  and  so  was 
to  be  avoided  by  Kendrick,  whose  instructions 
ran  as  follows : 

"You  are  strictly  enjoined  not  to  touch  at  any 
port  of  the  Spanish  dominion  on  the  western 
continent  of  America,  unless  driven  there  by 
unavoidable  accident,  in  which  case  you  are  to 
give  no  offence  to  any  of  the  subjects  of  his 
Catholic  Majest}-." 

Kendrick,  to  his  surprise,  was  received  with 
great  kindness  and  aided  in  repairing  his  in- 
jured vessel  by  Don  Bias  Gonzales,  the  humane 
commandant  of  the  Spanish  garrison  of  Juan 
Fernandez. 

Spain  at  this  time  claimed  the  right  of  exclu- 
sive jurisdiction  over  the  entire  western  continent 
of  America  by  virtue  of  the  papal  concession, 
1493,  and  by  right  of  discovery.  It  had  failed  to 
colonize  the  northwest  coast  of  America,  but  it 
prohibited  other  nations  from  entering  in  posses- 
sion. It  now  illustrated  its  narrow  and  jealous 
policy  in  its  treatment  of  a  subordinate  who  had 
ventured  to  assist  a  vessel  in  distress  and  pro- 
vided with  letters  from  the  accredited  minister 
of  Spain  to  the  United  States.     Ambrose  O'Hig- 


92  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

gins,  then  captain-general  of  Chili,  under  whom 
Gonzales  was  serving,  on  hearing  of  this  act  re- 
called him  and  put  him  in  arrest,  pending  definite 
orders  from  his  own  superior,  Teodor  Lacroix, 
viceroy  of  Peru.  After  due  consideration  of 
the  case  the  unfortunate  commandant,  Gonzales, 
was  cashiered  for  his  remissness  in  allowing  a 
strange  ship  to  leave  Juan  Fernandez  instead  of 
seizing  her  and  her  crew.  The  viceroy  set  forth 
to  the  captain-general  of  Chili  the  legal  opinion 
that  by  the  royal  ordinance  of  November,  1692, 
every  foreign  vessel  found  in  those  seas  without 
a  license  from  the  court  of  Spain  was  to  be 
treated  as  an  enemy,  even  though  belonging  to  a 
friend  or  ally  of  the  king,  "  seeing  that  no  other 
nation  had,  or  ought  to  have,  any  territories,  to 
reach  which  its  vessels  should  pass  around  Cape 
Horn  or  through  Magellan's  Straits."  The  vice- 
roy therefore  sent  a  ship  from  Callao  to  track  or 
intercept  the  Columbia;  the  authorities  on  the 
coasts  of  Peru  and  Chili  were  especially  enjoined 
to  be  vigilant,  and  in  case  any  foreign  vessel 
should  appear  in  the  country  to  seize  her. 

Under  Gray's  skilful  handling  the  Washing- 
ton escaped  unharmed  from  the  hurricane,  and 
continuing  his  course  toward  King  George 
Sound,  the  concerted  rendezvous,  he  made  the 
American  coast,  about  46°  N.,  in  August,  1788. 
Here  he  barely  escaped  loss  of  his  vessel  in  try- 
ing to  cross  the  bar  of  an  unknown  river,  prob- 
ably the  Columbia,  when  his  ship  grounded.  He, 
however,  visited  shore,  and  found  that  the  sea 
was  perchance  the  less  inhospitable  of  the  two, 


CAPTAIN  ROBERT  GRAY  93 

for  he  was  so  savagely  and  violently  attacked  by 
swarms  of  Indians  that  he  was  very  glad  to 
escape  therefrom  with  one  seaman  dead  and  the 
mate  wounded. 

Quitting  this  unfortunate  place  he  sailed  north 
and  entered  Nootka  Sound,  Vancouver  Island, 
September  17,  1788,  where  he  found  two  English 
vessels,  the  Felice  and  Iphigenia,  sailing  under 
the  Portuguese  flag  and  commanded  by  Captains 
Meares  and  Douglass.     There  were  no  signs  of 


the  Columbia,  but  her  arrival  a  few  days  later  re- 
lieved Gray  from  further  anxiety  in  this  respect. 
Douglass's  vessel,  the  Iphigenia,  was  in  serious 
need  of  supplies  and  assistance,  which  Gray  gen- 
erously furnished.  Later  he  not  only  made  to 
the  northward  a  successful  trading  trip,  but  in 
the  following  year,  in  June,  1789,  explored  the 
whole  east  coast  of  Queen  Charlotte  Islands,  to 
which  he  gave  the  name  of  Washington  Islands, 
in  honor  of  General  Washington,  then  President 
of  the  United  States.  In  another  trading  ex- 
cursion from  Nootka  Sound,  Vancouver  Island, 
Gray  entered  the  broad  opening  southeast  of  the 
island  and  sailed  to  the  east-southeast  fifty  miles. 


94  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

where  he  found  the  passage  still  five  leagues 
wide.  This  opening  was  the  Straits  of  Fuca, 
and  the  first  authentic  exploration  of  the  strait  is 
the  account  of  Gray.  The  credit  of  first  passing 
through  the  entire  length  of  the  Straits  of  Fuca 
is  due  to  Kendrick,  who  made  the  passage  in  the 
sloop  Washington,  after  the  departure  of  Gray 
to  China  on  the  Columbia. 

The  account  of  the  passage  of  the  Washing- 
ton through  the  Straits  of  Fuca  was  especially 
called  to  Vancouver's  attention  by  the  British 
Admiralty  on  the  occasion  of  his  surveying 
voyage  of  1791,  when  he  was  particularly  to 
"  examine  the  supposed  Strait  of  Juan  de  Fuca, 
said  to  be  situated  between  the  forty-eighth 
and  forty-ninth  north  latitude,  and  to  lead  to  an 
opening  through  which  the  sloop  Washington 
was  reported  to  have  passed  in  1789,  and  to  have 
come  out  again  to  the  northward  of  Nootka." 
Vancouver  later  denied  to  Americans  the  credit 
of  first  sailing  entirely  through  the  Straits  of 
Fuca,  resting  his  opinion  on  Gray's  statement 
that  he  sailed  only  fifty  miles  within  it,  which 
was  true ;  the  credit  belonging  to  Kendrick  in 
his  voyage  with  the  Washington  after  Gray's  de- 
parture from  the  coast  in  1789. 

The  efforts  of  Kendrick  and  Gray  resulted  in 
the  obtaining  of  a  full  cargo  of  furs,  which  in 
accordance  with  their  instructions  were  to  be 
sold  in  China.  Kendrick,  fascinated  with  the 
prospects  of  fortune  and  success,  and  perhaps 
reluctant  to  face  his  owners  owing  to  his  lack 
of  caution  which  resulted  in  the  unfortunate  kill- 


CAPTAIN  ROBERT  GRAY  95 

ing  of  some  thirty  natives,  decided  to  remain  on 
the  northwest  coast,  his  imaginary  Eldorado. 

Gray  consequently  transferred  to  the  Colum- 
bia and  set  sail  for  Canton,  then  the  great  fur 
mart  of  the  world.  His  voyage  across  the 
Pacific  was  prosperous,  his  furs  were  readily 
sold,  and  after  taking  a  cargo  of  tea  on  board, 
Gray  sailed  for  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  on 
the  loth  of  August,  1790,  the  Columbia  entered 
the  port  of  Boston,  the  first  vessel  to  circum- 
navigate the  world  under  the  flag  of  the  United 
States. 

His  success  and  conduct  so  impressed  the 
owners  of  the  ship  that  they  immediately  de- 
cided upon  sending  Gray  back  to  the  north- 
west coast,  and  seven  weeks  later,  September 
28,  1790,  he  sailed  in  the  Columbia,  which  was 
described  as  a  ship  of  two  hundred  and  twelve 
tons,  manned  by  thirty  men,  and  equipped  with 
an  armament  of  ten  guns. 

Gray  was  also  provided  with  a  sea  letter 
signed  by  George  Washington,  then  President, 
which  ran  as  follows: 

"To  all  Emperors,  Kings,  Sovereign  princes, 
State  and  Regents  and  to  their  respective  officers, 
civil  and  military  and  to  all  others  whom  it  may 
concern. 

"  I,  George  Washington,  President  of  the 
United  States  of  America  do  make  known  that 
Robert  Gray,  Captain  of  a  ship  called  the  Co- 
lumbia of  the  burden  of  about  230  tons,  is  a 
citizen  of   the  United  States  and  that  the  said 


96  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

ship  which  he  commands  belongs  to  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States  ;  and  as  I  wish  that  the  said 
Robert  Gray  may  prosper  in  his  lawful  affairs,  I 
do  request  all  the  before  mentioned,  and  of  each 
of  them  separately,  when  the  said  Robert  Gray 
shall  arrive  with  his  vessel  and  cargo,  that  they 
will  be  pleased  to  receive  him  with  kindness  and 
treat  him  in  a  becoming  manner  &c.  and  there- 
by I  shall  consider  myself  obliged. 

"September  i6,  1790 — New  York  City 
(Seal  U.  S.) 

"Geo.  Washington, 

President. 
"Thomas  Jefferson, 

"  Secy  of  State. " 

He  further  was  provided  with  a  similar  letter 
from  John  Hancock,  the  Governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 

His  letter  of  instructions  from  the  owners, 
signed  by  Joseph  Barrell,  enjoins,  in  similar  and 
even  stronger  terms  than  those  given  Kendrick 
three  years  before,  friendly  treatment,  strict 
honesty,  honorable  conduct,  and  the  avoidance 
of  unjust  advantage  in  trade  with  the  natives, 
the  shunning  of  Spanish  ports,  tender  treatment 
of  his  crew,  urgency  of  despatch  in  reaching  the 
northwest  coast,  and  the  refraining  from  all  un- 
necessary connections  with  foreigners  or  Amer- 
icans. It  further  speaks  of  Gray's  rising  reputa- 
tion, and  expresses  the  belief  that  a  regard  for 
his  own  honor,  and  a  respect  for  the  sea  letter 
with  which  the  President  had  honored  and  in- 


On  the  Shores  of  the  Pacific. 


CAPTAIN  ROBERT  GRAY  97 

dulged  him,  would  cause  Gray  to  doubly  exert 
himself  for  the  success  of  the  voyage. 

Gray  used  such  despatch  and  was  so  fortunate 
that  he  reached  Cape  Flattery,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Straits  of  Fuca,  June  5,  1791,  his  voyage  of 
eight  months  having  been  devoid  of  any  occur- 
rence worthy  of  note.  Proceeding  northward 
to  Queen  Charlotte  Island  for  trade,  he  there 
fell  in  with  Ingraham,  formerly  mate  of  the 
Columbia,  but  now,  July  23,  1791,  in  command 
of  the  Hope.  The  autumn  was  spent  in  trading 
and  exploring  among  the  islands  and  along  the 
coast  to  the  east  and  north  of  Queen  Charlotte 
Island.  During  one  trip  Gray  penetrated  an 
inlet  near  55°  N.  latitude,  probably  the  northern 
extension  of  Vancouver  Strait,  to  a  distance  of 
one  hundred  miles  to  the  northeastward  without 
reaching  the  end  of  the  passage,  which  he  sup- 
posed to  be  the  Rio  de  Reyes  of  Admiral  Fonte. 
Gray's  visit  was  most  unfortunate,  for  a  portion 
of  his  crew  landing  at  a  port  on  the  mainland  in 
55°  N.,  on  August  22d,  a  large  band  of  savages 
fell  on  the  party  and  killed  Joshua  Caswell,  his 
second  mate,  and  seamen  Joseph  Barns  and  Job 
Folgier.  This  fatal  spot  was  therefore  named 
Massacre  Cove. 

The  attitude  of  the  Indians  was  a  matter  of 
constant  anxiety,  so  that  Gray  and  his  crew 
were  obliged  to  exercise  the  greatest  caution  in 
all  their  intercourse  with  such  tribes  as  they  fell 
in  with.  In  Pintard  Sound,  51°  30'  N.,  near  the 
entrance,  an  attack  was  attempted  on  the  Co- 
lumbia, which  obliged  Gray  to  fire  on  the  In- 
7 


98  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

dians,  whereby  two  of  the  chiefs  were  killed, 
but  it  did  not  excite  lasting  resentment,  as  these 
savages  traded  with  him  later  as  though  nothing 
had  happened. 

Returning  to  Clyoquot,  Port  Cox,  Vancouver 
Island,  with  the  Columbia,  Gray  went  into 
winter  quarters.  The  owners  had  sent  out  the 
frames  for  a  sloop  of  about  thirty  tons,  with 
three  carpenters  to  build  the  vessel.  A  fortihed 
habitation,  called  Fort  Defiance,  was  constructed 
for  occupancy  by  the  working  party,  which  fin- 
ished and  launched  the  sloop  that  winter,  chris- 
tening her  as  the  Adventurer. 

In  the  spring  of  1792,  while  the  crews  of  the 
Columbia  and  Adventurer  were  preparing  for 
sea  they  were  visited  by  many  Indians,  who, 
through  their  chiefs,  established  such  relations 
with  a  Sandwich  Islander,  who  was  one  of  the 
crew  of  the  'Columbia,  as  to  excite  Gray's  sus- 
picions. The  Islander  on  being  closely  ques- 
tioned by  Gray  confessed  that  the  Indians  had 
formed  a  plan  to  murder  the  whole  party  and 
seize  the  vessels,  the  Hawaiian  to  aid  them  by 
wetting  the  priming  of  all  the  guns,  and  in  re- 
turn be  made  a  chief  among  the  Indians.  Gray 
took  immediate  steps  to  keep  his  crew  on  their 
guard  during  their  remaining  stay,  and  thus 
completely  baffled  the  design  of  the  savages 
without  bloodshed. 

In  April,  1792,  Gray,  sending  the  Adventurer 
northward  under  command  of  Haswell,  his  first 
mate,  turned  himself  southward,  and  on  the  29th 
fell   in  with  Vancouver,  who   was  approaching 


CAPTAIN  ROBERT  GRAY  99 

the  northwest  coast  on  a  voyage  of  explora- 
tion in  the  English  ship  Discovery,  with  the 
Rambler  under  Broughton  as  a  consort. 

Vancouver  eagerly  sought  information  from 
Gray  as  to  his  knowledge  of  the  coast,  which  the 
American  gave  fully  and  cheerfully.  Gray  set 
forth  his  voyages  in  the  Straits  of  Fuca,  around 
Queen  Charlotte  Island,  and  further,  that  in  1788 
he  had  "  been  off  the  mouth  of  a  river,  in  the 
latitude  of  46°  10',  where  the  outset  or  reflux 
was  so  strong  as  to  prevent  his  entering  for  nine 
days."  This  latter  information  was  most  sur- 
prising and  distasteful  to  Vancouver,  who,  fitted 
out  at  great  expense  with  two  vessels  for  'explo- 
ration alone,  found  the  accuracy  of  his  own  ob- 
servations of  the  coast,  as  recorded  in  his  journal 
two  days  earlier,  thrown  in  doubt  by  the  state- 
ments of  this  American  trader. 

Vancouver  had  written  before  meeting  Gray : 
"  The  several  large  rivers  and  capacious  inlets  that 
have  been  described  as  discharging  their  contents 
into  the  Pacific,  between  the  fortieth  and  forty- 
eighth  degrees  of  north  latitude,  were  reduced  to 
brooks  insufificient  for  our  vessels  to  navigate,  or 
to  bays  inaccessible  as  harbors.  Under  the  most 
fortunate  and  favorable  circumstances  of  wind 
and  weather,  so  minutely  has  this  extensive  coast 
been  inspected,  that  the  surf  has  been  constantly 
seen  to  break  on  its  shores  from  the  mast-head." 
After  hearing  Gray's  relation  Vancouver  wrote: 
"  If  any  inlet  should  be  found,  it  must  be  a  very 
intricate  one,  and  inaccessible  to  vessels  of  our 
burden.      ...      I   was  thoroughly  convinced, 


100  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

as  were  also  most  persons  of  observation  on 
board,  that  we  could  not  possibly  have  passed 
any  safe  navigable  opening  harbor  or  place  of 
security  for  shipping  on  this  coast."  Later 
Broughton  by  Vancouver's  orders  entered  and 
surveyed  a  part  of  the  Columbia  in  the  latter 
part  of  October,  1792,  when  very  much  to  his 
surprise  he  found  himself  preceded  by  another 
American  trader.  Captain  Baker,  master  of  the 
brig  Jenny,  of  Bristol,  R.  I.  Vancouver's  re- 
port of  the  Columbia  is  scarcely  creditable  to 
that  great  navigator,  for  he  attempted  to  prove 
that  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  is  an  inlet  sepa- 
rate from  the  main  river,  and  that  Gray  is  conse- 
quently not  entitled  to  the  credit  of  discovering 
the  main  river,  a  misstatement  that  cannot  stand 
either  in  light  of  Gray's  journal  or  the  hydrog- 
raphy of  the  river. 

Doubtless  Gray  was  sufficiently  irritated  by 
Vancouver's  doubts  and  criticisms  as  to  the  ex- 
istence and  navigability  of  the  unknown  river,  to 
cause  him  to  again  venture  the  dangers  which 
had  so  nearly  caused  the  loss  of  his  vessel  on  his 
previous  visit.  Of  it  Wilkes  wrote  :  "  Mere  de- 
scription can  give  little  idea  of  the  terrors  of  the 
bar  of  the  Columbia.  All  who  have  seen  it  have 
spoken  of  the  wildness  of  the  scene,  the  incessant 
war  of  the  waters,  representing  it  as  one  of  the 
most  fearful  sights  that  can  possibly  meet  the 
eye  of  the  sailor." 

Gray  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  his  way  to  the 
southward,  and  within  two  weeks  justified  his 
previous  statements   by  not  only  entering    and 


CAPTAIN  ROBERT  GRAY  101 

navigating  the  Columbia,  but  also  discovered  a 
haven  (Bulfinch  or  Gray  Harbor)  affording  safe 
anchorage  and  shelter  for  small  vessels. 

The  following  extracts  from  the  log-book  of 
the  ship  Columbia  give  the  account  of  Gray's 
discoveries  in  his  own  words  : 

"  1792,  May  7.  10  A.M.  Being  within  six 
miles  of  the  land,  saw  an  entrance  in  land  which 
had  a  very  good  appearance  of  an  harbour. 
.  .  .  At  half-past  three  bore  away  and  ran  in 
N.  E.  by  E.  sounding  from  4  to  5  fathoms,  sandy 
bottom,  and  as  we  drew  nearer  in  between  the 
bars  had  from  10  to  12  fathoms.  Having  a  very 
strong  tide  of  ebb  to  stem,  many  canoes  came 
alongside,  and  at  5  p.m.  came  to  in  5  fathoms 
of  water,  sandy  bottom,  in  a  safe  harbour  well 
sheltered  from  the  sea  by  long  sand-bars  and 
spits.  Our  latitude  observed  this  day  46°  58'  N." 
This  harbor,  called  Bulfinch  by  Gray,  now  prop- 
erly bears  the  name  of  its  discoverer. 

"  10  (May).  Fresh  breezes  and  pleasant 
weather.  Many  natives  alongside,  at  noon  all 
the  canoes  left.  At  i  P.M.  began  to  unmoor,  took 
up  the  best  bower  anchor  and  hove  short  on  the 
small  anchor;  at  half-past  four  being  high  water 
hove  up  the  anchor  and  came  to  sail  and  a  beat- 
ing down  the  harbour. 

"II.  At  half-past  7  we  were  out  clear  of  the 
bar  and  directed  our  course  to  the  southward 
along  shore.  At  8  P.M.  the  entrance  of  Bul- 
finch harbour  bore  N,  distant  4  miles,  the  S.  one 
extreme  of  the  land,  bore  SSE.  ^  E. :  the  N.  ditto, 
NNNW.     Sent  up  the  main  top-gallant  yard  and 


102  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

set  all  sail.  At  4  (?)  P.M.  saw  the  entrance  of  our 
desired  port,  bearing  ESE.,  distance  6  leagues,  in 
steering  sails  and  hauled  our  wind  in  shore.  At 
8  A.  (p.  ?)  M.  being  a  little  to  the  windward  of  the 
entrance  to  the  harbour,  bore  away  and  run  in 
ENE  between  the  breakers  having  from  5  to  7 
fathoms  water.  When  we  were  over  the  bar  we 
foiDid  this  to  be  a  large  river  of  fresJi  zvater",  up 
which  we  stood.  Many  canoes  came  alongside. 
At  I  (11?)  P.M.  came  to  with  the  small  bower  in 
10  fathoms,  black  and  white  sand;  the  entrance 
between  the  bars  bore  WSW,  distance  10  miles. 
The  north  side  of  the  river,  a  half  mile  distant 
from  the  ship,  the  south  side  2^  miles  distance ;  a 
village  (Chinook)  on  the  north  side  of  the  river, 
W.  by  N.,  distance  f  of  a  mile.  Vast  numbers 
of  natives  came  alongside.  People  employed  in 
pumping  the  salt  water  out  of  our  water-casks  in 
order  to  fill  with  fresh  water  which  the  ship 
floated  in.     So  ends. 

"  (May)  14.  Sailed  upwards  of  13  or  15  miles, 
when  the  channel  was  so  very  narrow  that  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  keep  it.  .  .  .  Ship  took 
ground,  but  she  did  not  lay  long  before  she  came 
off  without  any  assistance. 

"  The  jolly-boat  was  sent  to  sound  the  channel 
out  but  found  it  not  navigable  any  farther  up ; 
so,  of  course,  we  must  have  taken  the  wrong 
channel. 

"  15    (May).     ...     In   the    afternoon    Capt. 


CAPTAIN  ROBERT  ORAY  103 

Gray  and  Mr.  Hoskins  in  the  jolly-boat  went  on 
shore  to  take  a  short  view  of  the  country.     .     .     , 

"  19  (May).  .  .  .  Capt.  Gray  gave  this  riv- 
er the  name  of  Columbia's  river,  and  the  north 
side  of  the  entrance  Cape  Hancock,  the  south 
side  of  the  entrance,  Adams  Point." 

The  day  following  (20th)  Gray  left  the  river, 
crossing  the  bar  after  several  attempts,  and  sailed 
northward  to  rejoin  the  Adventurer. 

Completing  his  cargo  of  furs,  Gray  again  vis- 
ited Canton,  and  by  his  former  route  returned 
to  Boston.  He  married  on  the  4th  of  February, 
1794,  and  died,  while  in  command  of  a  coasting 
vessel,  in  the  summer  of  1806,  at  Charleston,  S.  C, 
leaving  a  wife  and  four  daughters. 

On  March  27,  1846,  a  committee  of  Congress 
considered  a  petition  of  Martha  Gray,  his  widow, 
who  applied  for  a  pension  for  his  services  to  the 
United  States  in  war  and  as  an  explorer.  The 
committee  in  question  considered  that  the  most 
suitable  return  for  Gray's  valuable  services  would 
be  the  grant  of  a  township  in  Oregon,  but  as  sur- 
veys had  not  yet  been  made  it '  deferred  such 
action  as  then  inexpedient.  It  recommended, 
however,  that  Congress  should  pass  a  bill  giving 
Mrs.  Gray  the  sum  of  five  hundred  dollars  per 
annum.  In  its  report  the  committee  said  that 
Gray  was  the  first  discoverer  of  the  country  ;  that 
such  discovery  conferred  on  the  United  States 
a  title  to  the  whole  basin  drained  by  the  river, 
known  then  as  Oregon  Territory;  that  the  hazard 
and  labor  of  the  journey  were  great,  especially  in 
the  unsurvcved  bar  of  the  Columbia. 


104  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

Americans  did  not  confine  their  title  to  the 
valley  of  the  Columbia  to  the  mere  right  of  dis- 
covery without  occupation  and  use,  but  they 
proceeded  to  develop  its  capacities  for  trade  and 
settlement.  From  the  year  1797  American  ves- 
sels regularly  entered  the  Columbia  and  traded 
with  its  natives. 

When  in  1826  the  rights  of  the  United  States 
in  regard  to  Oregon  were  formulated  and  made 
the  subject  of  consideration  by  plenipotentiaries 
on  the  parts  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States,  the  claims  of  the  latter  were  urged  on 
three  grounds,  the  most  important  or  first  being 
from  their  own  proper  right,  which  was  founded 
on  Gray's  discovery  of  the  Columbia  River. 

If  Vancouver  had  discovered  the  Columbia 
prior  to  Gray,  it  is  impossible  to  say  what  com- 
plications and  results  would  have  arisen  in  con- 
nection with  the  extension  and  development  of 
the  United  States.  It  is  therefore  a  source  of 
endless  gratification  that  Captain  Robert  Gray, 
by  his  courage,  enterprise,  and  seamanship,  in 
discovering  and  entering  the  Columbia,  ulti- 
mately secured  to  the  United  States  this  fertile 
territory,  almost  twice  as  extensive  in  area  as 
Great  Britian. 

With  its  six  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  of  in- 
habitants, its  great  cities,  its  enormous  accumula- 
tions of  wealth,  the  young  empire  added  to  the 
United  States  through  Robert  Gray  is  fast  shap- 
ing into  substance  the  golden  visions  of  the  en- 
thusiastic Kendrick. 


V. 


CAPTAIN    MERIWETHER    LEWIS    AND 
LIEUT.   WILLIAM   CLARK. 

First  Trans-Continental  Explorers  of  the 
United  States. 

The  burning-  genius  and  intense  patriotism 
of  Thomas  Jefferson  found  their  most  brilliant 
setting  in  his  draft  of  the  most  famous  paper 
in  the  world,  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
If  Jefferson  thus  struck  the  keynote  of  freedom 
for  America,  he  was  not  content  with  a  free  people 
restricted  in  their  habitat  to  the  eastern  half  of 
the  continent,  and  in  his  ripest  life  gave  no  more 
conspicuous  evidence  of  his  foresight  and  states- 
manship than  in  the  inauguration  of  a  policy 
which  comprehended  in  its  scope  the  explora- 
tion and  settlement  of  the  entire  trans-Missis- 
sippi region.  He  not  only  urged  and  completed 
the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  but  sought  the  extent 
of  its  natural  resources,  appreciated  the  unde- 
veloped wealth  of  the  great  West,  and  drafted 
a  scheme  of  land  divisions  and  settlement  which 
foreshadowed  the  beneficial  homestead  legisla- 
tion of  later  years. 

Jefferson  was  for  years  interested  in  the  ex- 
ploration (jf  the  western  parts  of  North  America, 


106  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

which  were  absolutely  unknown  save  the  coast- 
line of  the  Pacific.  In  1784,  while  in  Paris,  he 
met  John  Ledyard,  who  had  made  an  unsuccess- 
ful effort  to  organize  a  compan}-  for  the  fur  trade 
on  the  western  coast  of  America.  Ledyard,  by 
Jefferson's  advice  and  intercession,  attempted  to 
cross  by  land  to  Kamschatka,  and  thence  to  the 
west  coast  of  America,  and  across  country  to 
the  Missouri  River.  Ledyard's  arrest  in  Siberia 
and  expulsion  from  the  country  by  the  Russian 
Government  ended  this  plan.  In  1802  Jefferson 
initiated,  through  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  a  subscription  for  the  exploration  of 
the  western  parts  of  North  America,  by  ascend- 
ing the  Missouri  River,  crossing  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  descending  the  nearest  river  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean.  Although  only  two  persons 
were  to  go,  Meriwether  Lewis  urgently  sought 
the  appointment,  and  with  M.  Andre  Michaux 
the  voyage  was  commenced  ;  but  his  companion 
being  recalled  by  the  French  minister  at  Wash- 
ington, the  journey  was  abandoned. 

On  January  18,  1803,  Jefferson,  then  President, 
recommended  in  a  confidential  message  to  Con- 
gress modifications  of  the  act  regarding  trade 
with  Indians,  and  with  the  view  of  extending  its 
provisions  to  the  Indians  on  the  Missouri,  recom- 
mended the  exploration  of  the  Missouri  River  to 
its  source,  the  crossing  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, and  descent  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  by  the  best 
water  communication.  Congress  approved  the 
plan  and  voted  money  for  its  accomplishment. 
Captain  Meriwether  Lewis,  of  the  United  States 


CAPTAIX  LEWIS  A^'■D  LIEUT.  CLARK      107 

Army,  who  had  been  for  nearly  two  years  private 
secretary  to  the  President,  renewed  his  solicita- 
tions for  command,  which  was  given  him. 

Jefferson  showed  his  versatility  in  the  instruc- 
tions to  Captain  Lewis,  which  are  a  model  of  ful- 
ness and  clearness.  The  route  to  be  followed, 
natural  products  and  possibilities — animal,  vege- 
table, and  mineral — climatic  conditions,  commer- 
cial routes,  the  soil  and  face  of  the  country,  were 
all  dwelt  on.  The  character,  customs,  disposition, 
territory  occupied,  tribal  relations,  means  of 
subsistence,  language,  clothing,  disease,  moral 
attributes,  laws,  traditions,  religion,  intellectual- 
ity, extent  and  means  of  trade,  war  methods,  with 
respect  to  the  Indian  tribes  visited,  were  to 
be  studied  and  reported.  The  topograph v  of 
the  country  was  to  be  accurately  determined, 
astronomically  and  otherwise,  and  the  maps  and 
notes  multiplied  to  avoid  total  loss.  The  good- 
will of  the  chiefs  was  to  be  sought,  peaceful 
methods  pursued,  and  the  inflexible  opposition 
of  any  extensive  force  promising  bloodshed  was 
to  be  met  by  withdrawal  and  retreat.  The  coun- 
try then  being  outside  the  limits  of  the  United 
States,  passports  from  the  ministers  of  Great 
Britain.  Spain,  and  France  were  furnished. 

Meriwether  Lewis  was  born  August  17,  1774, 
near  Charlottesville,  Va.,  being  the  son  of  John 
Lewis  and  Miss  Meriwether,  and  grand-nephew 
of  Fielding  Lewis,  who  married  a  sister  of 
George  Washington.  Volunteering,  at  the  age 
of  twentv.  in  the  militia  called  out  by  Washing- 
ton to  put  down  the  Shay  rising,   he  was  made 


108  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

ensign  of  the  Second  Sub-Legion  May  i,  1795," 
and  appointed  in  First  Infantry  November,  1796, 
where  he  rose  to  be  paymaster  and  captain  in  1 800. 
He  was  a  considerate  and  efficient  officer,  an  ex- 
pert hunter,  versed  in  natural  history,  familiar 
with  Indian  character  and  customs.  Appreciating 
his  deficiencies  in  certain  branches  of  science  im- 
portant in  this  expeditionary  duty,  he  at  once 
sought  instruction  from  competent  professors. 

Jefferson  describes  Lewis  as  follows  :  "  Of 
courage  undaunted,  possessing  a  firmness  and  per- 
severance of  purpose  which  nothing  but  impos- 
sibilities could  divert  from  its  direction,  .  .  . 
honest,  disinterested,  liberal,  of  sound  under- 
standing and  a  fidelity  to  truth  so  scrupulous 
that  whatever  he  should  report  would  be  as  cer- 
tain as  seen  ourselves."  The  management  and 
success  of  the  expedition,  it  may  here  be  said, 
fully  justified  the  selection  by  and  encomiums  of 
Jefferson. 

Lewis,  given  his  choice  of  associate,  selected 
William  Clark,  who  was  appointed  by  Jefferson 
second  lieutenant  of  artillery.  Clark  was  a 
brother  of  George  Rogers  Clark,  by  whose  valor 
and  sagacity  the  Illinois  or  Northwest  Territory 
was  secured  to  the  United  States,  and  this  con- 
nection made  his  selection  for  further  extension 
of  the  country  seem  most  fitting.  Moreover 
young  Clark  had  qualifications  and  experiences 
which  strongly  commended  him  to  Lewis.  Born 
in  Virginia,  August  i,  1770,  William  Clark  had 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  privations  and 
conditions  of  frontier  life.     Skilful  as  a  hunter, 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      109 

a  keen  observer,  familiar  with  military  life  from 
four  years  of  service  as  a  lieutenant  of  infantry, 
and  developed  from  his  ill  health,  which  caused 
him  to  leave  the  army  in  1796,  into  a  magnificent 
specimen  of  manhood,  he  proved  so  efficient  a 
coadjutor  that  his  name  will  ever  be  insepara- 
bly associated  with  that  of  Lewis. 

Lewis  left  Washington  July  5,  1803,  his  mission 
being  enhanced  in  its  importance  by  the  formal 
cession  of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States  by 
the  treaty  of  Paris,  April  30,  1803,  which  news 
reached  him  July  ist.  The  rendezvous  was  at 
St.  Louis,  which  was  reached  via  Pittsburgh 
and  the  Ohio,  recruits  being  selected  at  various 
posts,  while  Lieutenant  Clark  joined  at  Louis- 
ville, though  he  was  not  commissioned  in  the 
army  till  the  following  March. 

When  the  party  reached  St.  Louis,  in  Decem- 
ber, 1803,  formal  notice  of  the  transfer  of  Louisi- 
ana had  not  reached  the  Spanish  commandant, 
who  would  not  permit  their  passage  westward. 
They  passed  the  winter  in  camp  opposite  the 
mouth  of  the  Missouri,  where  they  built  a  barge 
with  sail-power  and  two  smaller  boats,  with 
which  they  started  up  the  Missouri  River  on 
May  14,  1804. 

The  expedition,  commanded  by  Captain  Lew- 
is, with  Lieutenant  Clark  as  second,  comprised 
thirty-four  selected  men,  eleven  being  watermen, 
a  negro  servant,  and  a  hunter,  who  was  also  an 
interpreter. 

The  valley  of  the  lower  Missouri  was  well 
known   to  the   French  Canadians,   who,  pushed 


110  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

westward  by  the  irruption  of  English  settlers  in 
the  Illinois  region,  sought  isolation  and  freedom 
from  foreign  restraint  in  the  country  west  of  the 
Mississippi.  St.  Louis  was  their  head-quarters, 
but  the  Missouri  was  their  field  of  fortune.  The 
village  of  St.  Charles,  with  its  single  street,  had 
about  five  hundred  souls,  who  lived  by  hunting 
and  trade  with  the  Indians,  agriculture  being 
quite  neglected  ;  and  an  outpost  of  seven  pov- 
erty-stricken families  existed  at  La  Charrette,  the 
advance  guard  of  civilization.  But  the  typical 
French  trader  and  trapper  disdained  the  shelter 
of  a  roof  and  the  restraint  of  communities.  His 
adventurous  spirit  pushed  his  frail  bark  into  the 
quiet  waters  of  the  upper  Kansas,  through  the 
shallows  of  the  Platte,  under  the  overshading 
trees  of  the  beautiful  James,  along  the  precipi- 
tous red-clay  cliffs  of  the  Big  Sioux,  and,  in  search 
of  the  beaver,  even  penetrated  the  winding  nar- 
rows of  the  Cheyenne  and  Little  Missouri.  They 
did  not  even  stop  at  transient  visits,  but,  fas- 
cinated by  the  roving,  aimless  life  of  the  savage, 
took  up  abode  with  him,  shared  his  tepee  and 
wanderings,  adopted  his  customs,  took  his  squaw 
to  wife,  until  longings  strange  and  uncontrollable 
drew  them  back  in  old  age  to  the  home  and  re- 
ligion of  their  youth.  One  of  these  venturesome 
wanderers  named  Durion,  who  had  lived  twenty 
years  among  the  Sioux,  was  picked  up  on  the 
river  and  accompanied  Lewis  to  the  mouth  of 
the  James,  as  a  much-needed  interpreter. 

The  mouth  of  the  Platte   was  passed  on  July 
2ist,  and  on  the  next  day   Lewis  camped  on  the 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK       111 

site  of  the  present  city  of  Council  Bluffs,  thus 
named  by  Lewis  on  account  of  his  council  with 
the  Ottoes  and  Missouri  Indians  at  this  point. 
Here  the  first  of  a  continuing  series  of  presents 
was  given  to  the  grand  chief :  an  American  flag, 
a  large  medal,  which  was  placed  around  his 
neck  as  a  mark  of  consideration,  paint,  garters, 
cloth  ornaments,  a  canister  of  powder,  and  the 
indispensable  bottle  of  whiskey.  The  subordi- 
nate chiefs  received  inferior  medals  and  presents 
according  to  their  importance.  These  presents 
were  made  with  much  form  and  ceremony, 
wherein  an  important  part  were  speeches  setting 
forth  the  transfer  of  the  territory  to  the  United 
States,  the  benefits  of  peace,  and  the  advantages 
of  trade  at  the  new  post  to  be  occupied  by 
Americans. 

Both  Lewis  and  Clark  had  been  accustomed 
to  Indian  life  on  the  Eastern  frontiers,  but  they 
found  much  that  was  strange  and  striking  among 
the  denizens  of  the  great  interior  plains.  Be- 
yond the  breech-cloth  a  loose  buffalo  robe  usually 
kept  the  savage  from  nudity.  The  necklace  of 
grizzly  bear-claws,  the  ornaments  of  porcupine 
and  feathers,  the  scalp-poles,  the  conical  teepes 
covered  with  gayly-figured  skins,  the  blue  smoke 
up-curling  from  the  open  tent-top,  the  hoop- 
tambourine  or  half-drum,  the  queer  whip-rattle 
of  the  hoofs  of  goats  and  deer,  the  bladder-rattle 
full  of  pebbles,  the  shaven  heads  of  the  men,  the 
white-dressed  buffalo  robe  with  its  jingling  rows 
of  porcupine  quills  and  uncouth  painted  figures, 
emblematic  of  the  brave's  war-history,  the  hawk- 


112  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

feather  or  eagle-plume  head-dress  worked  with 
porcupine  quills,  the  polecat  skin  trailing  from 
the  young  brave's  moccasins,  the  deer-paunch 
tobacco-pouch,  and  a  score  of  other  novelties  met 
their  observing  eyes.  Among  the  Rickarees  the 
octagonal  earth-covered  lodges,  the  picketed 
villages,  the  cultivated  patches  of  corn,  beans, 
and  potatoes,  the  basket-like  boats  of  interwoven 
boughs  covered  with  a  single  buffalo  skin,  in 
which  squaws  paddled  unconcernedly  over  high 
waves,  were  unknown  phases  of  savage  life. 

Even  the  earth  gave  up  its  treasure,  and  they 
found  the  first  of  the  famous  petrifactions  of  the 
trans-Missouri  region  in  the  back-bone  of  a  fish 
forty-five  feet  long,  in  a  perfect  state. 

Game  gradually  grew  plentiful  as  they  as- 
cended the  river.  Buffalo  was  not  seen  till  the 
Big  Sioux  was  reached,  but  later  fifteen  herds 
and  three  bands  of  elk  were  visible  at  one  time, 
and  near  Mandan  large  flocks  of  goats  were  seen 
crossing  from  their  summer  grazing  grounds  to 
find  west  of  the  Missouri  winter  shelter  in  the 
hilly  regions.  As  they  passed  the  Indians  drove 
large  flocks  of  migrating  goats  into  the  river, 
where  even  boys  killed  the  helpless  animals  by 
scores  with  sticks.  Indeed,  the  Missouri  then 
appears  to  have  been  a  hunter's  paradise,  for 
there  are  mentioned  among  the  regular  game 
antelope,  bear,  beaver,  buffalo,  badger,  deer,  elk, 
goats,  and  porcupine.  Three  thousand  antelope 
were  seen  at  one  time,  and  of  this  animal  Lewis 
accurately  remarks :  "  The  antelope  possesses 
most  wonderful  swiftness,  the  acuteness  of  their 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      113 

sig-ht  distinguishes  the  most  distant  danger,  the 
delicate  sensibility  of  their  smell  defeats  the  pre- 
cautions of  concealment,  and  when  alarmed  their 
rapid  career  seems  more  like  the  flight  of  birds 
than  the  movements  of  an  earthly  being." 

The  river  furnished  abundant  supply  of  cat 
and  buffalo  fish,  and  feathered  game,  such  as 
plover,  grouse,  geese,  turkeys,  ducks,  and  pelican, 
also  abounded  ;  among  the  vegetable  products 
are  enumerated  several  kinds  of  grapes,  currants 
and  plums,  wild  apples,  billberries,  cherries, 
gooseberries,  mulberries,  raspberries,  acorns, 
and  hazel-nuts. 

As  regards  the  voyage  thus  far,  it  was  true 
that  the  sail  could  rarely  be  used,  that  the  labor 
of  propelling  the  boats  by  oar  or  pole  was  most 
laborious,  and  that  the  shallows  gave  great 
trouble  ;  but  the  Indians,  save  a  single  threaten- 
ing occasion,  were  most  friendly,  and  the  only 
death,  that  of  Sergeant  Floyd,  was  from  acute 
disease.  Indeed,  the  journey  had  been  most  at- 
tractive and  free  from  special  hazard,  and  when 
rapidly  advancing  winter  obliged  them  to  go 
into  permanent  quarters,  on  October  27th,  it 
seemed  rather  a  long  hunting  excursion  than  a 
dangerous  voyage  of  discovery. 

Their  winter  quarters,  called  Fort  Mandan,were 
on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Missouri,  sixteen  hun- 
dred miles  from  St.  Louis,  and  in  latitude  47°  22' 
N.,  a  short  distance  above  the  present  city  of 
Bismarck.  The  buildings  were  wooden  huts, 
which  joined  and  formed  two  sides  of  a  triangle, 
while  the  third  side  was  of  pickets.     As  the  huts 


114  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

opened  inward,  they  had  a  stockaded  place  easy 
of  defence. 

On  his  arrival  at  Fort  Mandan,  Lewis  found  a 
Mr.  McCracken,  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company, 
engaged  in  trading  for  horses  and  buffalo  robes. 
During  the  winter  ten  or  twelve  different  traders 
of  this  company  visited  Mandan,  and  although 
one  bore  a  letter  from  the  chief  factor,  Mr.  Charles 
Chabouilles,  offering  any  service  in  his  power,  yet 
it  was  evident  to  Lewis  that  these  traders  were 
cultivating  sentiments  unfriendly  to  Americans 
among  the  Indians,  and  Chaboneau,  the  inter- 
preter was  tampered  with  ;  but  the  prompt  and 
judicious  action  of  Lewis  resulted  in  apologies 
and  promises  to  refrain  from  such  conduct  in 
future.  Laroche,  one  of  the  Hudson  Bay  traders, 
desired  to  go  west  with  the  expedition,  but  it 
was  thought  best  to  decline  the  offer.  At  this 
time  the  nearest  English  trading-post  was  at  the 
forks  of  the  Assiniboin,  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  distant  by  the  way  of  Mouse  River. 

The  stay  at  Fort  Mandan  was  marked  by  two 
sad  experiences  for  the  Indians  encamped  near 
the  post :  an  autumnal  prairie  fire  which  burned 
two  Indians  to  death,  and  an  attack  of  the  Sioux, 
wherein  one  Mandan  was  killed  and  two  Avounded. 
A  Frenchman,  Jesseaume,  living  with  the  Indians, 
served  as  interpreter,  and  they  learned  much  of 
the  Mandans,  Rickarees,  and  Minnetarees.  The 
Rickarees  appeared  in  a  very  sensible  light  by  re- 
fusing spirits,  with  the  remark  that  they  did  not 
use  it,  and  were  surprised  that  their  father  should 
present  to  them  a  liquor  which  would  make  them 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      115 

fools.  The  sensibilities  of  these  Indians  in  their 
peculiar  way  appeared  in  a  chief  who  cried  bit- 
terly at  seeing  a  court-martial  sentence  of  flog- 
ging carried  out  on  a  soldier.  The  chief  ac- 
knowledged the  necessity  of  exemplary  punish- 
ment, and  said  that  for  the  same  offence  he  had 
killed  his  braves,  but  that  he  never  whipped  any 
one,  not  even  children. 

The  Mandans,  through  intervention,  made 
peace  with  the  Rickarees,  and  restored  traps  and 
furs  which  they  had  taken  from  French  hunters. 
During  the  entire  winter  these  Indian  tribes  were 
most  friendly,  and  their  stores  of  corn,  obtained 
by  the  expeditionary  force  by  trade  or  purchase, 
were  of  material  benefit  to  the  party.  The  negro 
was  a  constant  source  of  wonder  to  the  crowds 
of  Indians  who  visited  them.  The  one-eyed 
great  chief  of  the  Minnetarees  said  that  some 
foolish  young  men  had  told  him  there  was  a 
person  quite  black.  When  York,  the  negro,  ap- 
peared, the  one-eyed  savage,  much  surprised, 
examined  the  negro  closely,  and  spitting  on  a 
finger  rubbed  the  skin  in  order  to  wash  off  the 
paint,  and  it  was  not  until  the  negro  showed  his 
curly  hair  that  the  Indian  could  be  persuaded  he 
was  not  a  painted  white  man. 

Game,  though  at  some  distance,  was  abundant, 
and  seventy  head  of  large  animals  were  obtained 
in  a  hunt  of  ten  days.  With  regard  to  the  In- 
dians Lewis  says :  "A  camp  of  Mandans  caught 
within  two  days  one  hundred  goats  a  short  dis- 
tance below  us.  Their  mode  of  hunting  them  is 
to  form  a  large  strong  pen  or  fold,  from  which 


116  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

a  fence  is  made  of  bushes  gradually  widening 
on  each  side ;  the  animals  are  surrounded  by  the 
hunters  and  gently  driven  toward  this  pen,  in 
which  they  imperceptibly  find  themselves  en- 
closed, and  are  then  at  the  mercy  of  the  hunters. 

"  When  the  Indians  engage  in  killing  buffalo, 
the  hunters  mount  on  horseback  and,  armed  with 
bows  and  arrows,  encircle  the  herd  and  gradu- 
ally drive  it  into  a  plain  or  open  place  fit  for  the 
movement  of  horse ;  they  then  ride  in  among 
them,  and  singling  out  a  buffalo,  a  female  being 
preferred,  go  as  close  as  possible  and  wound 
her  with  arrows  till  they  think  they  have  given 
the  mortal  stroke;  when  they  pursue  another 
till  the  quiver  is  exhausted.  If,  which  rarely 
happens,  the  wounded  buffalo  attacks  the  hunter, 
he  evades  the  blow  by  the  agility  of  his  horse, 
which  is  trained  for  the  combat  with  great  dex- 
terity." 

The  winter  proved  to  be  of  unusual  severity, 
and  several  times  the  temperature  fell  to  forty 
degrees  below  zero,  and  proof  spirits  froze  into 
hard  ice.  The  fortitude  with  which  the  hardy 
savages  withstood  such  extreme  cold,  half  naked 
as  they  often  were,  impressed  our  explorers. 

Spring  opened  early,  and  on  April  7,  1805, 
Fort  Mandan  was  abandoned,  one  party  of  ten 
with  the  barge  going  down  the  river  with  de- 
spatches and  specimens.  Lewis  and  Clark  with 
their  party  of  thirty  started  up  the  Missouri  in 
six  canoes  and  two  large  open  boats,  which  had 
been  constructed  by  them.  They  had  three  in- 
terpreters— Drewyer,  Chaboneau,  and  his  wife. 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      117 

Drewyer  was  a  Canadian  half-breed  who  had 
always  lived  in  the  woods,  and  while  he  had 
inherited  from  his  mother  the  intuitive  sagacity 
of  the  Indian  in  following  the  faintest  trail,  he 
had  also  acquired  to  a  wonderful  degree  that 
knowledge  of  the  shifts  and  expedients  of  camp 
life  which  is  the  resource  and  pride  of  the 
frontier  huntsman.  Chaboneau's  life  had  been 
largely  spent  among  the  Blackfeet,  by  whom 
his  wife,  a  Snake  Indian,  had  been  taken  in  war 
and  enslaved  when  a  young  girl. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Missouri  the  three 
French  hunters,  who  had  ventured  to  follow  the 
party,  stopped  for  trapping,  as  they  found  beaver 
very  plentiful.  Chaboneau  Creek,  the  farthest 
point  on  the  Missouri  yet  visited  by  white  men, 
was  passed,  and  on  April  26th  they  arrived  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone.  Lewis  was  here 
particularly  pleased  with  the  wide  plains,  inter- 
spersed with  forests  of  various  trees,  and  ex- 
pressed his  opinion  that  the  situation  was  most 
suitable  for  a  trading  establishment. 

Spring  had  now  fairly  opened,  the  trees  were 
in  leaf,  a  flower  was  seen,  and  despite  the  scanty 
verdure  of  the  new  grass,  game  was  very  abun- 
dant. In  many  places,  however,  the  barren  banks 
and  sand-bars  were  covered  with  a  white  in- 
crustation of  alkali  salts,  looking  like  frost  or 
newly  fallen  snow,  which  were  present  in  such 
quantities  that  all  the  small  tributaries  of  the 
Missouri  proved  to  be  bitter  and  unhealthy 
water.  Signs  of  human  life  became  rarer,  but 
now  and  then  they  passed  an  old   Indian  camp, 


118  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

and  near  one  saw  the  burial  place  of  an  Indian 
woman.  The  body,  carefully  wrapped  in  dressed 
buffalo  robes,  rested  on  a  high  scaffold,  with  two 
sleds  and  harness  over  it.  Nearby  lay  the  re- 
mains of  a  dog  sacrificed  to  the  shades  of  his 
dead  mistress.  In  a  bag  were  articles  fitting  for 
women — moccasins,  red  and  blue  paint,  beavers' 
nails,  scrapers  for  dressing  hides,  dried  roots, 
a  little  Mandan  tobacco,  and  several  plaits  of 
sweet-smelling  grass. 

The  oar  was  plied  unceasingly  save  when  a 
favoring  wind  filled  their  sails  and  facilitated 
their  progress.  In  early  May  they  drew  up 
their  canoes  for  the  night  at  the  mouth  of  a  bold, 
beautiful  stream,  and  in  the  abundant  timber 
found  feeding  on  the  young  willows  so  many 
clumsy  porcupines  that  they  called  it  Porcupine 
River.  Game  was  present  in  vast  quantities; 
the  elk  were  tame,  and  the  male  buffalo  would 
scarcely  quit  grazing  at  the  approach  of  man. 
As  Lewis  remarks:  "It  has  become  an  amuse- 
ment to  supply  the  party  with  provisions." 

On  May  8th  they  dined  at  the  mouth  of  a  river 
flowing  from  a  level,  well-watered,  and  beautiful 
country.  As  the  water  had  a  peculiar  whiteness 
they  were  induced  to  call  it  Milk  River.  The 
Missouri  now  turned  to  the  southwest  and  south, 
the  country  became  more  open,  and  timber,  of 
pine  mostly,  small  and  scanty. 

Although  the  buffalo  were  so  tame  and  harm- 
less that  the  men  drove  them  out  of  their  way 
with  sticks,  yet  the  grizzly  bear  never  failed  to 
be  a  dangerous  and  vicious  visitor.     One  day  six 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      119 

good  hunters  attacked  a  grizzly,  and  four  firing 
at  forty  paces,  each  lodged  a  ball  in  the  body, 
two  going  through  the  lungs.  The  animal  ran 
at  them  furiously,  when  the  other  hunters  fired 


Capta 


two  balls  into  him,  breaking  a  shoulder.  The 
bear  yet  pursued  them,  driving  two  into  a  canoe 
and  the  others  into  thickets,  from  which  they 
fired  as  fast  as  they  could  reload.  Turning  on 
them,  he  drove  two  so  closely  that  they  dropped 
their  guns  and  sprang  from  a  precipice  twenty 


120  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

feet  high  into  the  river  followed  by  the  bear, 
who  finally  succumbed  to  a  shot  through  the 
head  after  eight  balls  had  passed  completely 
through  his  body.  Another  bear,  shot  through 
the  heart,  ran  a  quarter  of  a  mile  with  undimin- 
ished speed  before  he  fell  dead. 

On  the  2oth,  twenty-two  hundred  and  seventy 
miles  from  St.  Louis,  they  came  to  the  greenish- 
yellow  waters  of  the  Musselshell,  and  a  short 
distance  beyond  Captain  Lewis  caught  his  first 
glimpse  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  object  of 
his  hope  and  ambition.  Beyond  the  Musselshell 
their  experiences  were  less  pleasant :  the  country 
became  more  barren,  game  and  timber  scarce, 
mosquitoes  annoying ;  the  high  dry  winds,  full  of 
sand,  made  their  eyes  sore ;  the  sun  of  midday 
burned,  while  almost  every  night  ice  or  frost 
chilled  them. 

The  clear  waters  of  the  Judith  River  and  its 
woods  beautiful  with  multitudinous  mountain 
roses,  the  fragrant  honeysuckle,  and  the  tiny 
red  willows  delighted  their  eyes ;  but  the  sight 
of  a  hundred  and  twenty-six  lately  abandoned 
lodge-fires  caused  some  uneasiness,  as  indicating 
a  late  camping-place  of  a  war-party  of  vicious 
northern  Minnetarees  or  Blackfeet. 

A  few  miles  farther,  as  they  passed  a  precipice 
a  hundred  and  twenty  feet  high,  they  saw  evi- 
dence of  the  cunning  and  wasteful  methods  of 
hunting  by  Indians,  for  the  remains  of  over  a 
hundred  buffalo  were  scattered  around,  though 
the  stream  must  have  washed  many  away. 
Lewis  adds:  "These  buffaloes  had  been  chased 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      121 

down  the  precipice  in  a  way  very  common  on 
the  Missouri,  and  by  which  vast  herds  are  de- 
stroyed in  a  moment.  The  mode  of  hunting  is 
to  select  one  of  the  most  active  and  fleet  young 
men,  who  is  disguised  in  a  buffalo  skin  round  his 
body.  The  skin  of  the  head,  with  the  ears  and 
horns,  are  fastened  on  his  own  head  in  such  a 
way  as  to  deceive  the  buffalo.  Thus  dressed  he 
fixes  himself  at  a  convenient  distance  between  a 
herd  of  buffalo  and  any  of  the  river  precipices, 
which  sometimes  extend  for  several  miles.  His 
companions,  in  the  meantime,  get  in  the  rear  and 
side  of  the  herd,  and  at  a  given  signal  show  them- 
selves and  advance  toward  the  buffalo.  They 
instantly  take  the  alarm,  and  finding  the  hunters 
beside  them  they  run  toward  the  disguised  Indian 
or  decoy,  who  leads  them  on  at  full  speed  toward 
the  river,  when  suddenly  securing  himself  in 
some  crevice  of  the  cliff,  which  he  had  previously 
fixed  on,  the  herd  is  left  on  the  brink  of  the  preci- 
pice. It  is  then  in  vain  for  the  foremost  to  re- 
treat or  even  to  stop ;  they  are  pressed  on  by  the 
hindmost  ranks,  who,  seeing  no  danger  but  from 
the  hunters,  goad  on  those  before  them  till  the 
whole  are  precipitated  and  the  shore  is  strewed 
with  their  dead  bodies.  Sometimes  in  this  peril- 
ous seduction  the  Indian  himself  is  either  trodden 
under  foot  or,  missing  his  footing  in  the  cliff,  is 
urged  down  the  precipice  by  the  falling  herd." 

The  river  now  took  the  form  of  frequent 
rapids,  which  made  the  work  of  dragging  the 
heavy  canoes  very  painful,  and  the  narrative 
runs :  "  The  banks  are  so  slippery  in  some  places, 


122  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

and  the  mud  so  adhesive,  that  the  men  are  un- 
able to  wear  moccasins.  One-fourth  of  the  time 
they  are  obliged  to  be  up  to  their  arm-pits  in  the 
cold  water,  and  sometimes  walk  for  yards  over 
sharp  fragments  of  rocks." 

On  June  3d  they  came  to  where  the  river  di- 
vided into  two  large  streams,  and  it  became  of 
vital  importance  to  the  expedition  to  determine 
which  was  the  Missouri  or  Ahmateahza,  as  the 
Minnetarees  called  it,  and  which  they  said  ap- 
proached very  near  to  the  Columbia.  The  suc- 
cess of  the  expedition  depended  on  the  right 
decision,  so  Captain  Lewis  concluded  to  encamp 
until  reconnoitering  columns  could  examine  the 
two  forks. 

Lewis  following  up  the  north  branch,  two  days' 
march,  decided  that  it  was  not  the  Missouri,  and 
named  it  Maria's  River.  In  returning  he  nar- 
rowly escaped  slipping  over  a  precipice  some 
ninety  feet  high.  Lewis  had  just  reached  a  spot 
of  safety  when,  says  the  narrative, 

"  He  heard  a  voice  behind  him  cry  out,  '  Good 
God,  Captain,  what  shall  I  do?'  He  turned  in- 
stantly and  found  it  was  Windsor,  who  had  lost 
his  foothold  about  the  middle  of  the  narrow  pass 
and  had  slipped  down  to  the  very  verge  of  the 
precipice,  where  he  lay  on  his  belly,  with  his 
right  arm  and  leg  over  the  precipice,  while  with 
the  other  leg  and  arm  he  was  with  difficulty 
holding  on  to  keep  himself  from  being  dashed  to 
pieces  below.  His  dreadful  situation  was  in- 
stantly perceived  by  Captain  Lewis,  who,  stifling 
his  alarm,  calmly  told  him    that   he    was   in   no 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      123 

danger,  that  he  should  take  his  knife  out  of  his 
belt  with  the  right  hand  and  dig  a  hole  in  the 
side  of  the  bluff  to  receive  his  foot.  With  great 
presence  of  mind  he  did  this,  and  then  raised 
himself  on  his  knees.  Captain  Lewis  then  told 
him  to  take  off  his  moccasins  and  come  forward 
on  his  hands  and  knees,  holding  the  knife  in  one 
hand  and  his  rifle  in  the  other.  He  immediate- 
ly crawled  in  this  way  till  he  came  to  a  secure 
spot." 

One  of  Lieutenant  Clark's  party,  on  the  south 
fork,  at  the  same  time,  ran  great  danger  from  a 
grizzly  bear  which  attacked  near  camp  a  man 
whose  gun,  being  wet,  would  not  go  off.  The 
man  took  to  a  tree,  so  closely  followed  by  the 
animal  that  he  struck  the  hunter's  foot  as  he  was 
climbing.  The  bear  showed  his  intention  of 
waiting  until  the  man  should  be  forced  to  de- 
scend, but  fortunately  alarmed  by  the  cries  and 
signal-shots  of  a  searching-party  decamped. 

While  Lewis  and  Clark  concurred  in  believing 
the  south  fork  to  be  the  true  Missouri,  the  rest  of 
the  party  were  unanimous  in  thinking  the  north 
the  right  course.  Finally  caching  their  heaviest 
boat  and  all  the  supplies  which  could  well  be 
spared,  the  entire  party  followed  the  south  fork. 

Lewis,  pushing  on  confidently  with  four  men, 
confirmed  his  opinion  by  reaching,  on  June  13th, 
the  great  falls  of  the  Missouri,  which  by  their 
sublime  majesty  and  stupendous  magnitude  fas- 
cinated him.  The  description  of  these  falls  at 
the  time  of  their  first  view  by  civilized  man  is 
worthy  of  reproduction.     The  river,  three  hun- 


124  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

dred  yards  wide,  was  shut  in  by  precipitous 
cliffs,  and  "  for  ninety  yards  from  the  left  cliff 
the  water  falls  in  one  smooth  sheet  over  a  preci- 
pice of  eighty  feet.  The  rest  of  the  river  precipi- 
tates itself  with  a  more  rapid  current,  but  received 
as  it  falls  by  the  irregular  and  projecting  rocks 
below,  forms  a  splendid  prospect  of  white  foam 
two  hundred  yards  in  length.  .  .  .  This  spray 
is  dissipated  in  a  thousand  shapes.  .  .  .  As  it 
rises  from  the  fall  it  beats  with  fury  against  a 
ledge  of  rocks  which  extend  across  the  river." 
On  examination  Lewis  found  that  "  the  river  for 
three  miles  below  was  one  continued  succession 
of  rapids  and  cascades,  overhung  with  perpen- 
dicular bluffs  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two 
hundred  feet  high  ;  in  short,  it  seems  to  have 
worn  itself  a  channel  through  the  solid  rock." 
At  the  main  falls,  five  miles  above  the  first,  "  the 
whole  Missouri  is  suddenly  stopped  by  one 
shelving  rock,  which  without  a  single  niche  and 
with  an  edge  as  straight  and  regular  as  if  formed 
by  art,  stretches  itself  from  one  side  of  the  river 
to  the  other  for  at  least  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  Over 
this  the  river  precipitates  itself  in  an  even,  unin- 
terrupted sheet  to  the  perpendicular  depth  of 
fifty  feet,  whence,  dashing  against  the  rocky  bot- 
tom, it  rushes  rapidly  down,  leaving  behind  it  a 
spray  of  the  purest  foam  across  the  river.  The 
scene  was  singularly  beautiful,  without  any  of 
the  wild  irregular  sublimity  of  the  lower  falls." 
In  a  Cottonwood  tree,  on  a  small  island  in  the 
middle  of  the  rapids,  an  eagle  had  fixed  its  nest, 
a  solitary  bird    which  had  not  escaped  the  ob- 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.    CLARK      125 

servation  of  the  Indians,  who  had  previously  de- 
scribed it  to  Lewis. 

On  leaving  the  falls  Lewis  saw  a  herd  of  a 


Vtr«'" 


thousand  buffalo,  and  killed  one  for  supper.  In 
his  eagerness  he  failed  to  reload  his  rifle,  when 
he  beheld  a  grizzly  bear  stealing  on  him  and  not 
over  twenty  paces  distant.  "  He  felt  that  there 
was  no  safety  but  in  flight.     It  was  in  the  open, 


126  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

level  plain,  ...  so  that  there  was  no  possible 
mode  of  concealment.  .  .  .  As  soon  as  he 
turned  the  bear  ran,  open  mouthed  and  at  full 
speed,  upon  him.  Captain  Lewis  ran  about  eighty 
yards,  but  finding  that  the  animal  gained  on  him 
fast  ...  he  turned  short,  plunged  into  the 
river  about  waist  deep,  and  facing  about  presented 
the  point  of  his  spontoon.  The  bear  arrived  at 
the  water's  edge  within  twenty  feet  of  him,  but  as 
soon  as  he  put  himself  in  this  posture  of  defence, 
the  animal  seemed  frightened  and  retreated  with 
as  much  precipitation  as  he  had  pursued." 

The  means  and  route  for  portage  presented 
difficult  problems  for  the  exhausted  party,  as  it 
was  clearly  evident  that  the  men  could  not  carry 
the  boats  on  their  shoulders  such  great  distances. 
Fortunately  a  creek  was  found  at  the  foot  of  the 
falls,  where  the  banks  afforded  easy  access  to 
the  highlands.  It  was  first  necessary  to  cross 
the  Missouri,  and  here  the  party  went  into  camp 
while  preparations  were  made  for  the  portage. 

Lieut.  Clark  with  a  few  men  carefully  surveyed 
the  trail  to  be  followed,  others  engaged  in  hunt- 
ing in  order  to  lay  up  a  store  of  dried  meat, 
and  the  handy  men  of  the  party  set  to  work  on 
a  carriage  for  the  transport  of  the  boats.  By 
good  fortune  they  found  a  large  cottonwood- 
tree,  about  twenty-two  inches  in  diameter,  large 
enough  to  make  the  carriage-wheels,  "perhaps 
the  only  tree  of  that  size  within  twenty  miles." 
As  they  had  decided  to  cache  a  part  of  their 
stores  and  leave  their  largest  boat  behind,  its 
mast  supplied  them  with  two  axle-trees. 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      127 

In  the  meantime  the  survey  of  Clark  showed 
that  the  series  of  cataracts  had  an  aggregate 
descent  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-three  feet 
in  seventeen  miles,  and  that  a  very  difficult 
portage  of  thirteen  miles  was  necessary.  The 
country  was  barely  practicable  for  travel,  and 
was  covered  with  frequent  patches  of  prickly 
pear,  against  the  tiny  penetrating  needles  of 
which  the  moccasins  of  the  dragging  men  af- 
forded almost  no  protection.  To  add  to  their 
misfortunes,  when  about  five  miles  from  their 
destination  the  axle-trees,  made  of  the  old  mast, 
broke,  and  then  the  tongues  of  green  cotton- 
wood  gave  way.  After  diligent  search  sweet- 
willow  trees  were  found  with  which  they  man- 
aged, by  shifts  and  expedients  familiar  to  front- 
iersmen, to  patch  up  the  carriage  so  as  to  go 
on.  It  broke  down  so  completely  about  a  half 
mile  from  the  new  camp  that  it  Avas  easier  to 
carry  boat  and  baggage  on  their  shoulders  than 
to  build  a  new  conveyance.  The  condition  of 
the  party  is  evident  from  the  narrative : 

"  The  men  are  loaded  as  heavily  as  their 
strength  will  permit;  the  crossing  is  really  pain- 
ful ;  some  are  limping  with  the  soreness  of 
their  feet,  others  are  scarcely  able  to  stand  for 
more  than  a  few  minutes  from  the  heat  and 
fatigue ;  they  are  all  obliged  to  halt  and  rest 
frequently,  and  at  almost  every  stopping -place 
they  fall,  and  many  of  them  are  asleep  in  an 
instant." 

Later  it  was  needful  to  repair  the  carriage  and 
to  travel  over  and  over  the  portage  until,  after 


128  EXPLORERS  AND    TRAVELLERS 

ten  days  of  weary  labor,  all  the  equipage  was 
above  the  falls. 

In  the  meantime  the  hunters  had  accumulated 
nearly  half  a  ton  of  dried  meat,  buffalo  being 
plenty.  The  grizzly  bear,  however,  was  also  pres- 
ent, active,  aggressive,  and  dangerous  as  usual. 
They  infested  the  camp  at  night,  causing  much 
alarm,  and  once  carried  off  buffalo-meat  from 
a  pole  within  thirty  yards  of  the  men.  A 
hunter  sent  out  to  bring  in  meat  was  boldly  at- 
tacked by  a  bear  and  narrowly  escaped  death, 
being  pursued  to  within  forty  paces  of  the  camp. 
Another  animal  was  killed  when  rushing  up  to 
attack  men  who  had  to  climb  a  tree,  while  making 
sufficient  noise  to  attract  their  rescuer,  Drewyer, 
the  interpreter  and  hunter,  who  shot  him  through 
the  head.  He  proved  to  be  the  largest  they  had 
seen,  being  eight  feet  seven  and  a  half  inches  long, 
while  his  fore  feet  measured  nine  inches  and  hind 
feet  seven  inches  across,  and  eleven  and  three- 
quarters  long  exclusive  of  the  talons.  Another 
hunter  was  attacked  by  a  grizzly,  fortunately 
near  the  river,  so  that  he  was  able  to  conceal 
himself  under  a  steep  bank ;  otherwise  he  would 
probably  have  lost  his  life. 

The  perils  of  navigation  and  the  chase  were 
not  all,  for  a  cloud-burst  and  hail-storm  con- 
tributed to  their  danger  and  suffering.  The  hail 
was  so  large  and  driven  so  furiously  by  the  high 
wind  that  it  knocked  down  several  of  the  men, 
one  three  times,  bruising  another  very  badly  and 
wounding  some  so  that  they  bled  freely.  The 
fallen  hail  lay  in  drifts,  which  in  places  complete- 


CAPTAIN'-  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      129 

ly  covered  the  ground,  and  some  of  the  stones 
weighed  three  ounces  and  measured  seven  inches 
in  circumference.  Clark,  Chaboneau  and  his 
wife  took  shelter  under  shelving  rocks  in  a 
deep  ravine,  congratulating  themselves  on  their 
protected  position.  Suddenly,  however,  the 
rain  fell  in  a  solid  mass,  and  instantly  collecting 
in  the  ravine,  came  rolling  down  in  a  dreadful 
torrent,  carrying  rocks  and  everything  before  it. 

"  But  for  Lieut.  Clark,  Chaboneau,  his  wife 
and  child  would  have  been  lost.  So  instantly 
was  the  rise  of  the  water,  that  as  Lieut.  Clark 
had  reached  his  gun  and  began  to  ascend  the 
bank,  the  water  was  up  to  his  waist,  and  he  could 
scarce  get  up  faster  than  it  rose,  till  it  reached 
the  height  of  fifteen  feet,  with  a  furious  current 
which,  had  they  waited  a  moment  longer,  would 
have  swept  them  into  the  river  just  above  the 
Great  Falls,  down  which  they  must  have  inevi- 
tably been  precipitated." 

Though  the  phases  of  their  daily  life  brought 
much  that  was  rough  and  hard,  yet  their  priva- 
tions were  not  unmixed  with  pleasures,  rude 
though  they  may  seem  to  the  city  dweller.  Long 
tramps  and  exciting  rides  after  game,  side 
marches  to  commanding  hill-tops  for  grateful 
views  of  an  unknown  country — barren  to  the  eye, 
perhaps,  but  grateful  to  the  soul,  for  were  they 
not  the  first  men  of  their  race  who  ever  looked 
upon  it? — or  pleasant  journeys  through  upland 
forests  or  the  undergrowth  of  the  intervale,  to 
search  and  gather  whatever  was  beautiful  to  the 
eye,  novel  to  the  mind,  or  a  welcome  addition  to 
9 


130  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

their  scanty  larder ;  such  were  their  rare  pleas- 
ures. 

Now  they  waded  through  waist-high  patches 
of  wild  rye,  recalling  with  its  fine  soft  beard  the 
waving  fields  of  grain  they  had  left  in  the  far 
East  ;  again  they  pushed  on  in  dense  copses  of 
the  sinuous  redwood,  whose  delicate  inner  bark 
furnished  pleasant  Indian  tobacco  to  the  French- 
man and  half-breed.  Sometimes  the  trail  lay 
through  an  open  wood  with  smaller  undergrowth, 
where  beds  of  odorous  mint  recalled  his  Virgin- 
ian home  to  Lewis  ;  where  the  delicate  mount- 
ain-rose, in  countless  thousands,  was  born  to  blush 
unseen  ;  where,  if  only  one  ripened  berry  to-day 
invited  the  hunter,  other  kinds  promised  their 
welcome  fruit  in  due  but  later  season. 

Rarely  did  the  dull  gray  of  the  sky  dim  the 
glory  of  a  whole  day,  and  the  short  summer 
showers,  freshening  the  beauty  of  the  landscape 
and  abating  the  fervid  heat  of  mid-summer, 
seemed  only  too  infrequent.  And  above  all,  the 
pure,  free,  upland  air,  that  gives  vigor  and  health 
to  the  body,  joy  and  lightness  to  the  heart,  almost 
annihilates  distance  to  the  eye ;  and  in  breathing 
which,  one  drinks  into  the  lungs  the  very  wine 
of  life.  Surely  more  than  the  heroes  of  Virgil's 
song  did  they  feel  that  sweet  in  their  memory 
would  abide  these  days  forever. 

Of  the  mountains,  now  always  in  sight,  and  a 
constant  source  of  inspiration  to  the  eager  ex- 
plorers, those  to  the  north  and  northwest  were 
yet  snow-capped,  and  Lewis  says:  "They  glisten 
with  great  beauty  when  the  sun  shines  on  them 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      131 

in  a  particular  direction,  and  most  probably 
from  this  glittering  appearance  have  derived 
the  name  of  the  Shining  Mountains." 

During  his  explorations  of  the  country  around 
the  falls  Captain  Lewis  visited  a  remarkable  and 
beautiful  spring,  near  the  present  city  of  Great 
Falls,  Montana.     Of  it  he  writes  : 

"  The  fountain,  which  perhaps  is  the  largest  in 
America,  is  situated  in  a  pleasant  level  plain, 
about  twenty-five  yards  from  the  river,  into 
which  it  falls  over  some  steep  irregular  rocks, 
with  a  sudden  descent  of  about  six  feet  in  one 
part  of  its  course.  The  water  boils  up  from 
among  the  rocks  with  such  force  near  the  centre, 
that  the  surface  seems  higher  than  the  earth  on 
the  sides  of  the  fountain,  which  is  a  handsome 
turf  of  fine  green  grass." 

While  the  main  party  was  making  the  portage, 
a  detachment  was  "  occupied  in  fitting  up  a  boat 
of  skins,  the  iron  frame  of  which,  thirty-six  feet 
long,  had  been  prepared  for  the  purpose  at  Har- 
per's Ferry.  The  iron  frame  is  to  be  covered 
with  skins,  and  requires  thin-shaved  strips  of 
wood  for  lining.  The  skins  necessary  to  cover 
it  have  already  been  prepared — twenty-eight  elk 
and  four  buffalo  skins."  This  experimental  boat 
proved  to  be  a  total  failure,  and  it  was  not  till 
Lewis's  long  journey  was  nearly  over  that  he 
copied  the  skin  boat  of  the  Indian  squaws,  which 
had  excited  his  surprise,  and  found  that  the 
methods  of  the  locality  could  be  followed  with 
advantage  in  navigation  as  well  as  otherwise. 

As  the  six  canoes  were  insufficient  to  carry 


132  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

all  their  men  and  supplies,  Clark  was  sent  ahead 
to  find  suitable  wood  for  two  more,  there  being 
no  fit  trees  below  the  falls.  With  much  difficulty 
trees  were  found,  and  two  canoes,  three  feet  wide 


Lieutenant  W 


and  twenty-five  and  thirty-three  feet  long  re- 
spectively, were  fashioned.  Near  here  a  de- 
serted Indian  lodge  or  council  house  was  seen. 
It  was  two  hundred  and  sixteen  feet  in  circum- 
ference, made  of  sixteen  cottonwood  poles,  fifty 
feet  long,  converging  toward  the  centre,  where 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      133 

they  were  united  and  secured  by  large  withes  of 
sinewy  willow. 

Although  the  swivel  and  some  other  articles  had 
been  cached  at  the  head  of  the  falls,  their  loads 
were  yet  very  heavy,  and  all  walked  except  those 
engaged  in  working  the  canoe.  The  windings 
of  the  river  became  very  tortuous,  and  frequent 
rapids  made  their  progress  correspondingly  slow 
and  laborious. 

Game  was  less  plentiful,  and,  as  it  was  neces- 
sary to  save  the  dried  and  concentrated  food  for 
the  crossing  of  the  mountains,  it  became  some- 
what of  a  task  to  provide  food  for  a  party  of 
thirty-two  which  consumed  a  quantity  of  meat 
daily  equal  to  an  elk  and  deer,  four  deer  or  one 
buffalo.  Fortunately,  the  berries  were  now  ri- 
pening, and,  as  they  grew  in  great  quantities, 
proved  a  not  inconsiderable  contribution  to  their 
food-supply.  Of  currants  there  were  red,  pur- 
ple, yellow,  and  black,  all  pleasant  to  the  taste  ; 
the  yellow  being  thought  superior  to  any  other 
known  variety.  The  purple  service-berry  and 
pinkish  gooseberry  were  also  favorites.  Besides, 
they  made  use  of  the  very  abundant  and  almost 
omnipresent  sunflower.  Of  it  Lewis  says  :  "  The 
Indians  of  the  Missouri,  more  especially  those 
who  do  not  cultivate  maize,  make  great  use 
of  the  seed  of  this  plant  for  bread  or  in  thick- 
ening their  soup.  They  first  parch  and  then 
pound  it  between  two  stones  until  it  is  reduced 
to  a  fine  meal.  Sometimes  they  add  a  portion 
of  water,  and  drink  it  thus  diluted  ;  at  other 
times  they  add  a  sufficient  proportion  of  marrow 


134  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

grease  to  reduce  it  to  the  consistency  of  com- 
mon dough  and  eat  it  in  that  manner.  This  last 
composition  we  preferred  to  all  the  rest,  and 
thought  it  at  that  time  a  very  palatable  dish," 

The  Missouri  now  took  in  general  a  southerly 
course,  and  on  July  i8th  they  reached  a  bold 
clear  stream,  which  was  named  Dearborn  River 
for  the  then  Secretary  of  War.  They  had  in- 
tended to  send  back  a  small  party  in  canoes  with 
despatches,  but  as  they  had  not  met  the  Snake 
Indians,  and  so  were  uncertain  as  to  their  friend- 
liness, it  was  thought  best  not  to  weaken  their  al- 
ready small  party  for  hostilities.  Lewis  decided, 
however,  to  send  Clark,  with  three  men,  in  ad- 
vance to  open  up  communication  with  these  Ind- 
ians and,  if  possible,  to  negotiate  for  horses. 
Clark's  journey  was  a  failure,  for  the  Indians, 
alarmed  at  the  firing  of  a  gun,  fled  into  the 
mountains. 

The  mountains  now  closed  in  on  the  explorers 
and  they  camped  one  night  at  a  place  named  the 
Gates  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  "  For  five  and 
three-quarter  miles  these  rocks  rise  perpendic- 
ularh'  from  the  water's  edge  to  the  height  of 
nearly  twelve  hundred  feet.  They  are  composed 
of  black  granite  near  the  base,  but  .  .  .  we 
suppose  the  upper  part  to  be  flint  of  a  yellow- 
ish brown  and  cream  color.  Nothing  can  be 
imagined  more  tremendous  than  the  frowning 
blackness  of  these  rocks,  which  project  over  the 
river  and  threaten  us  with  destruction  .  .  . 
For  the  first  three  miles  there  is  not  a  spot,  ex- 
cept one  of  a  few  yards,  in  which  a  man  could 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      135 

Stand  between  the  water  and  the  towering  per- 
pendicular of  the  mountains." 

On  July  25th  Clark,  who  was  in  advance, 
reached  the  three  forks  of  the  Missouri,  where  he 
had  to  camp,  his  party  worn  out,  their  feet  full 
of  prickly  pear  needles  and  Chaboneau  unable  to 
go  farther.  The  forks  were  all  clear  pebbly 
streams,  discharging  large  amounts  of  water. 
The  southeast  fork  was  named  Gallatin,  the  mid- 
dle Madison,  and  the  southwest  Jefferson,  the  lat- 
ter two,  of  equal  size,  being  larger  branches  than 
the  Gallatin. 

At  the  three  forks  Sacajawea,  the  wife  of  Cha- 
boneau, was  encamped  five  years  before,  when 
the  Minnetarees  of  Knife  River  attacked  the 
Snakes,  killed  about  a  dozen  and  made  prisoners 
of  her  and  others  of  her  tribe.  Strangely  enough 
Chaboneau  nearly  lost  his  life  crossing  the  Mad- 
ison, where  Clark  saved  him  from  drowning. 
Lewis  was  struck  with  the  seeming  indifference 
of  the  Snake  woman  on  her  return  to  the  spot 
and  her  own  country. 

The  party  followed  Jefferson  River,  their  jour- 
ney being  marked  by  the  killing  of  a  panther 
seven  and  a  half  feet  long,  and  the  overturning 
of  a  canoe,  injuring  one  of  the  party.  White- 
house,  losing  some  articles,  and  wetting  others, 
but  the  all-important  powder  was  so  well  packed 
that  it  remained  dry. 

"  Persuaded,"  says  the  narrative,  "  of  the  neces- 
sity of  securing  horses  to  cross  the  mountains,  it 
was  determined  that  one  of  us  should  proceed 
.  .  .  till  he  found  the  Shoshones,  .  .  .  who  could 


136  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

assist  us  in  transporting  our  baggage."  Captain 
Lewis  with  three  men  preceded,  and  on  August  1 1, 
saw  "  with  the  greatest  delight  a  man  on  horse- 
back, at  the  distance  of  two  miles,  coming  down 
the  plain  toward  them.  On  examining  him  with 
the  glass.  Captain  Lewis  saw  that  he  was  armed 
with  a  bow  and  a  quiver  of  arrows ;  mounted  on  an 
elegant  horse  without  a  saddle,  and  a  small  string 
attached  to  the  under  jaw  answered  as  a  bridle. 
Convinced  that  he  was  a  Shoshonee,  and  knowing 
how  much  of  our  success  depended  on  the  friendly 
offices  of  that  nation,  Captain  Lewis  was  full  of 
anxiety  to  approach  without  alarming  him,  and 
endeavor  to  convince  him  that  he  was  a  white 
man.  He  therefore  proceeded  on  towards  the 
Indian  at  his  usual  pace;  when  they  were  within 
a  mile  of  each  other  the  Indian  suddenly  stopped. 
Captain  Lewis  immediately  followed  his  example, 
took  his  blanket  from  his  knapsack,  and  holding 
it  with  both  hands  at  the  four  corners,  threw  it 
above  his  head  and  unfolded  it  as  he  brought 
it  to  the  ground,  as  if  in  the  act  of  spreading  it. 
This  signal,  which  originates  in  the  act  of  spread- 
ing a  robe  or  skin  as  a  seat  for  guests  to  whom 
they  wish  to  show  a  distinguished  kindness,  is 
the  universal  sign  of  friendship  among  the  Indians 
on  the  Missouri  and  Rocky  Mountains."  Un- 
fortunately, the  brave  took  alarm  at  the  move- 
ment of  Lewis's  companions  and  fled.  The  next 
day  brought  them  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Jef- 
ferson. Here,  "  from  the  foot  of  one  of  the  lowest 
of  these  mountains,  which  rises  with  a  gentle  as- 
cent for  about  half  a  mile,  issues  the  remotest 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      137 

water  of  the  Missouri,  They  had  now  reached 
the  hidden  sources  of  that  river,  which  had  never 
yet  been  seen  by  civilized  man  ;  and  as  they 
quenched  their  thirst  at  the  chaste  and  icy  fount- 
ain— as  they  sat  down  by  the  brink  of  that  little 
rivulet,  which  yielded  its  distant  and  modest 
tribute  to  the  parent  ocean,  they  felt  themselves 
rewarded  for  all  their  labors  and  all  their  diffi- 
culties." 

Pushing  on  they  soon  saw,  to  the  west,  high, 
snow-topped  mountains. 

"  The  ridge  on  which  they  stood  formed  the 
dividing  line  between  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  Oceans.  They  followed  a  descent 
much  steeper  than  that  on  the  eastern  side,  and 
at  the  distance  of  three  quarters  of  a  mile  reached 
a  handsome,  bold  creek  of  cold,  clear  water  run- 
ning to  the  westward.  They  stopped  to  taste  for 
the  first  time  the  waters  of  the  Columbia,  and, 
after  a  few  minutes,  followed  the  road  across 
steep  hills  and  low  hollows,  till  they  reached  a 
spring  on  the  side  of  a  mountain.  Here  they 
found  a  sufficient  quantity  of  dry  willow  brush 
for  fuel,  and  therefore  halted  for  the  night,  and, 
having  killed  nothing  in  the  course  of  the  day, 
supped  on  their  last  piece  of  pork,  and  trusted  to 
fortune  for  some  other  food  to  mix  with  a  little 
fiour  and  parched  meal,  which  was  all  that  now 
remained  of  their  provisions." 

In  the  early  morn  of  August  13,  Lewis  hastened 
impatiently  forward  without  food,  and  after  a  few 
hours  of  travel  saw  three  Indians;  but  they  fled. 
A  little  later  he  surprised  three  women,  and  sue- 


138  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

ceeded  in  reaching  two,  who  covered  their  heads 
and  awaited  in  silence  their  expected  death. 
Showing  them  that  he  was  a  white  man,  and 
giving  them  trinkets,  they  were  reassured  and 
recalled  their  comrade,  when  he  painted  their 
cheeks  with  vermilion,  a  Shoshone  custom  em- 
blematic of  peace. 

The  women  pointed  out  the  direction  of  camp, 
and  Lewis,  marching  on,  soon  saw  a  band  of  sixty 
well-mounted  Indian  warriors  riding  full  speed 
toward  him  and  his  two  companions.  With 
perfect  composure  and  undaunted  courage  Lewis 
laid  down  his  rifle,  and  alone  marched  forward  to 
parley  with  this  horde  of  unknown  savages,  re- 
lying on  the  integrity  and  uprightness  of  his 
mission.  Received  with  the  greatest  cordiality, 
Lewis  at  once  smoked  a  pipe  of  peace  with  them, 
and  after  giving  them  some  blue  beads  and  ver- 
milion went  to  their  camp. 

On  arrival  he  was  inducted  into  a  council  lodge 
and  seated  on  a  robe,  when  a  fire  was  kindled. 
"  The  chief  then  produced  his  pipe  and  tobacco, 
the  warriors  pulled  off  their  moccasins,  and  our 
party  were  requested  to  take  off  their  own.  This 
being  done,  the  chief  lighted  his  pipe  at  the  fire 
within  the  magic  circle,  and  then  retreating  from 
it,  began  a  speech  several  minutes  long,  at  the 
end  of  which  he  pointed  the  stem  toward  the 
four  cardinal  points  of  the  heavens,  beginning 
with  the  east  and  concluding  with  the  north." 

By  this  time  the  day  was  well  spent,  and  no 
food  of  any  kind  had  passed  the  lips  of  Lewis 
and  his  men  since  the  previous  day.     On  learn- 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK       139 

ing  this  the  chief  told  him  that  they  only  had 
cakes  made  of  sun-dried  service-  and  choke- 
berries,  which  served  as  a  hearty  meal  to  the 
hungry  men.  Later  an  Indian  gave  Lewis  a 
piece  of  antelope  and  a  bit  of  salmon,  which  sat- 
isfied him  that  he  was  now  on  the  waters  of  the 
Columbia. 

The  next  day  they  had  an  experience  of  the 
Indian  mode  of  hunting,  which  is  thus  described  : 
"  The  chief  game  of  the  Shoshonees  is  the  an- 
telope, which,  when  pursued,  retreats  to  the 
open  plains,  where  the  horses  have  full  room 
for  the  chase.  But  such  is  its  extraordinary 
fleetness  and  wind,  that  a  single  horse  has 
no  chance  of  outrunning  it  or  tiring  it  down, 
and  the  hunters  are  therefore  obliged  to  resort 
to  stratagem.  About  twenty  Indians,  mounted  on 
fine  horses  and  armed  with  bows  and  arrows, 
left  camp.  In  a  short  time  they  descried  a  herd 
of  antelopes  ;  they  immediately  separated  into  lit- 
tle squads  of  two  or  three,  and  formed  a  scattered 
circle  round  the  herd  for  five  or  six  miles,  keeping 
at  a  wary  distance,  so  as  not  to  alarm  them  till 
they  were  perfectly  enclosed,  and  usually  select- 
ing some  commanding  eminence  as  a  stand. 
Having  gained  their  positions,  a  small  party  rode 
toward  the  herd,  and  with  wonderful  dexterity 
the  huntsman  preserved  his  seat,  and  the  horse 
his  footing,  as  he  ran  at  full  speed  over  the  hills 
and  down  the  steep  ravines  and  along  the  bor- 
ders of  the  precipices.  They  were  soon  out- 
stripped by  the  antelopes,  which,  on  gaining 
the  other  extremity  of   the  circle,  were   driven 


140  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

back  and  pursued  by  the  fresh  hunters.  They 
turned  and  flew,  rather  than  ran,  in  another 
direction ;  but  there,  too,  they  found  new  ene- 
mies. In  this  way  they  were  alternately  pur- 
sued backward  and  forward,  till  at  length,  not- 
withstanding the  skill  of  the  hunters,  they  all 
escaped  ;  and  the  party,  after  running  for  two 
hours,  returned  without  having  caught  anything, 
and  their  horses  foaming  with  sweat.  This  chase, 
the  greater  part  of  which  was  seen  from  the  camp, 
formed  a  beautiful  scene ;  but  to  the  hunters 
is  exceedingly  laborious,  and  so  unproductive, 
even  when  they  are  able  to  worry  the  animal 
down  and  shoot  him,  that  forty  or  fifty  hunt- 
ers will  sometimes  be  engaged  for  half  a  day 
without  obtaining  more  than  two  or  three  ante- 
lopes." 

Captain  Lewis  succeeded  with  great  difficulty 
in  persuading  the  band  of  Shoshones  to  pass 
over  the  divide  in  order  to  assist  in  bringing 
his  impedimenta  across.  The  presence  of  a 
Shoshone  woman,  the  monstrosity  of  a  man  en- 
tirely black,  favorable  barter  for  their  horses 
were  urged ;  in  short  he  played  on  their  avarice, 
curiosity,  tribal  pride,  and  by  questioning  their 
courage  succeeded  in  stimulating  them  to  make 
the  journey. 

It  transpired  that  Cameahwait,  the  Shoshone 
chief,  was  the  brother  of  Sacajawea,  and  one  of 
the  Shoshone  women,  now  in  camp,  had  been 
for  some  time  prisoner  with  her  in  the  hands  of 
the  Minnetarees.  The  meeting  of  these  Indians 
after  long  separation  disclosed  such  emotion  as 


C;,itle    Ro.k     ■„.    IM,    Columbia    Rivo 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      141 

proved  their  tender  feelings  and  genuine  inter- 
est in  each  other. 

A  long  and  tedious  council  was  held,  with  the 
usual  smoke  and  speeches.  Lewis  set  forth  in 
lively  terms  the  strength  of  the  government,  the 
advantages  of  trade,  and  the  importance  of  hasten- 
ing the  day  of  fire-arms  and  supplies  by  facilitat- 
ing the  journey.  Meanwhile  they  were  amused, 
as  the  Indian  must  be,  by  the  queer  negro,  the 
sagacious  and  well-trained  dog,  the  rifles,  the  air- 
gun,  clothing,  canoes,  etc.  All  game  brought 
in  was  divided;  the  Indians  feasted  on  hulled 
corn,  and  presents  were  liberally  distributed. 

The  good-will  of  the  Shoshones  was  finally 
secured,  and  four  horses  purchased  by  barter ; 
so  that  Lewis  was  to  send  Clark  ahead  to  recon- 
noitre the  route  along  the  Columbia,  and  build 
canoes  if  possible,  which  the  Indians  declared  to 
be  impracticable,  as  timber  was  wanting,  and  the 
river  and  mountains  impassable.  They  said  that 
for  seven  days  the  route  lay  over  steep,  rocky 
mountains,  with  no  game  and  only  roots  for  food ; 
then  for  ten  days  an  arid  sandy  desert,  where 
men  and  horses  would  perish  for  want  of  food 
and  water.  On  inquiry,  Clark  learned  that  Nez 
Perces  came  from  the  west  by  a  very  bad  road 
towards  the  north,  where  they  suffered  exces- 
sively from  hunger  and  travel.  Believing  that 
difficulties  surmountable  to  Indians  with  women 
and  children  could  not  be  formidable,  Clark 
pushed  on  with  a  guide,  but  soon  found  that  the 
Indian  accounts  had  not  been  exaggerated,  as  he 
fell  in  with  the  points  of  four  mountains,  which 


142  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

were  rocky,  and  so  high  that  it  seemed  almost 
impossible  to  cross  them  with  horses.  The  road 
lay  over  sharp  fragments  of  broken  rock  which 
had  fallen  from  the  mountains  and  were  strewed 
in  heaps  for  miles  together. 

Occasionally  he  met  small  parties  of  Indians, 
who,  in  wretched  plight  themselves,  yet  acted 
most  generously,  giving  him,  as  he  says,  willing- 
ly what  little  they  possessed,  which  was  usually 
a  few  dried  berries  and  a  bit  of  salmon,  never 
enough  to  entirely  appease  the  hunger  of  his 
famished  men.     Clark  says: 

"  Our  men,  who  are  used  to  hardships,  but  have 
been  accustomed  to  have  the  first  wants  of  nat- 
ure regularly  supplied,  feel  very  sensibly  their 
wretched  situation ;  their  strength  is  wasting 
away  ;  they  begin  to  express  an  apprehension  of 
being  without  food  in  a  country  perfectly  desti- 
tute of  any  means  of  supporting  life,  except  a 
few  fish." 

Clark's  explorations  showed  that  it  was  impos- 
sible to  follow  the  river,  to  which  he  gave  the 
name  of  Lewis,  as  he  was  the  first  white  man 
to  visit  its  waters,  either  by  canoe  or  along  its 
banks  on  horses.  The  mountains  were  one  bar- 
ren surface  of  broken  masses  of  rock  which 
crowded  into  the  river,  where  the  stream  pre- 
sented either  continuous  rapids  or  series  of 
shoals. 

Meanwhile,  Lewis  moved  his  necessary  bag- 
gage to  the  Shoshone  village,  previously  cach- 
ing his  surplus  baggage  and  sinking  his  canoes 
for  safety.    As  a  rule  the  Indians  were  most 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.   CLARK      143 

friendly,  but  during  a  hunting  expedition  a  young 
brave  snatched  up  his  rifle  and  made  off  with  it. 
Drewyer  pursued  him  ten  miles,  and  overtaking 
the  women  of  the  party,  watched  his  opportunity, 
and  seeing  the  Indian  off  his  guard,  galloped  up 
to  him  and  seized  his  rifle.  The  Indian  struggled 
for  some  time,  but  finding  Drewyer  getting  too 
strong  for  him,  had  the  presence  of  mind  to  open 
the  pan  and  let  the  priming  fall  out ;  he  then  let 
go  his  hold,  and  giving  his  horse  the  whip, 
escaped  at  full  speed,  leaving  the  women  at  the 
mercy  of  the  conqueror. 

Considerable  time  was  spent  in  making  need- 
ful preparations  for  crossing  the  mountains  and 
in  negotiating  for  horses,  of  which  they  obtained 
twenty-nine — young,  vigorous  animals,  though  in 
poor  flesh  and  with  sore  backs. 

This  necessary  delay  gave  Lewis  ample  oppor- 
tunity to  observe  the  habits  and  modes  of  life  of 
the  Shoshones,  which  are  especially  interesting  as 
the  record  of  an  Indian  tribe  before  it  had  come 
in  contact  with  the  white  men.  The  Shoshones, 
or  Snakes,  who  here  number  four  hundred  souls, 
lived  a  migratory,  wretched  existence,  seeking 
at  one  season  the  salmon  of  Lewis  River,  at  an- 
other the  buffalo  of  the  upper  Missouri,  and  again 
in  the  mountains  barely  maintaining  life  on  roots. 
They  were,  however,  gay,  frank,  fair-dealing,  hon- 
est, fond  of  ornaments,  amusements,  and  games 
of  chance,  kind  and  obliging,  and  somewhat  given 
to  boasting  of  their  warlike  exploits.  The  narra- 
tive continues:  "The  mass  of  females  are  con- 
demned, as  oniong  all  savage  nations,  to  the  low- 


144  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS- 

est  and  most  laborious  drudgery.  When  the 
tribe  is  stationary  they  collect  the  roots  and 
cook;  they  build  the  huts,  dress  the  skins,  and 
make  clothing,  collect  the  wood,  and  assist  in 
taking  care  of  the  horses  on  the  route  ;  they  load 
the  horses,  and  have  charge  of  all  the  baggage. 
The  only  business  of  the  man  is  to  fight :  he  there- 
fore takes  on  himself  the  care  of  his  horse,  the 
companion  of  his  warfare,  but  he  will  descend  to 
no  other  labor  than  to  hunt  and  to  fish." 

Their  inferior  arms  put  them  at  the  mercy  of 
the  Minnetarees  of  Knife  River,  who  mercilessly 
stole  their  horses  and  killed  their  braves.  They 
seemed  an  adventurous  and  courageous  people, 
and  Cameahwait's  vehement  declaration  that, 
with  guns,  they  would  never  fear  to  meet  their 
enemies,  did  not  seem  boastful. 

Their  common  arms  are  bow  and  arrow, 
shield,  lance,  and  a  weapon  called  by  the  Chip- 
peways,  by  whom  it  was  formerly  used,  the  pog- 
gamoggon. 

Their  method  of  producing  fire  was  by  an 
arrow  and  a  dry  prepared  stick,  which,  being 
rubbed  together  vigorously  and  dexterously  for  a 
few  minutes,  first  creates  a  fine  dust,  then  bursts 
speedily  into  flame. 

The  great  wealth  of  the  tribe  consists  in  large 
numbers  of  small,  wiry,  and  hardy  horses,  capa- 
ble of  great  endurance,  sure  footed  and  fleet. 
They  were  second  in  value  to  the  women  alone, 
who  carried  the  baggage  when  horses  failed. 

The  Shoshones  were  well  dressed,  with  shirts, 
leggings,  and  moccasins  of  dressed  deer,  antelope, 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.    CLARK      145 

etc.,  skins.  A  robe  with  the  hair  on  served  as  a 
cloak  or  as  a  bed-covering ;  the  shirts  were  orna- 
mented with  porcupine  quills  of  different  colors 
and  sometimes  by  beads,  also  the  moccasins. 
Elaborate  tippets  of  elegant  pattern  were  also 
worn,  made  of  otter  and  fringed  with  many 
ermine  skins;  also  collars  of  various  kinds  of 
sea-shells,  of  the  sweet-scented  grass,  of  tusks  of 
the  elk,  and  of  the  claws  of  the  grizzly  bear. 

"  The  names  of  the  Indians  vary  in  the  course 
of  their  life.  Originally  given  in  childhood  from 
the  mere  necessity  of  distinguishing  objects,  or 
from  some  accidental  resemblance  to  external 
objects,  the  young  warrior  is  impatient  to  change 
it  by  something  of  his  own  achievement.  Any 
important  event,  the  stealing  of  a  horse,  the 
scalping  of  an  enemy,  or  killing  a  brown  bear, 
entitles  him  at  once  to  a  new  name,  which  he 
then  selects  for  himself,  and  it  is  confirmed  by 
the  nation." 

Everything  ready,  Lewis  started  on  ^August 
27,  1805,  with  twenty-nine  pack-horses,  to  follow 
Berry  Creek  and  pass  over  the  mountains  to  In- 
dian establishments  on  another  branch  of  the 
Columbia.  In  many  places  a  road  had  to  be  cut, 
and  even  then  was  barely  practicable.  Sure  footed 
as  is  the  Indian  pony,  yet  all  of  the  horses  were 
very  much  injured  in  passing  over  the  steep 
rocky  ridges.  The  way  was  so  rough  that  the 
horses  fell  repeatedly  down  the  hillsides,  often 
capsizing  with  their  load,  and  occasionally  one 
was  crippled  and  disabled.  The  journey  was 
made  yet  more  disagreeable  by  a  fall  of  snow 
10 


146  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

and  by  severe  freezing  weather,  but  the  spirit  of 
the  party  is  shown  by  the  mention  of  a  "  serious 
misfortune,  the  last  of  our  thermometers  being 
broken."  On  September  6th,  however,  they 
were  safely  beyond  the  mountain  in  a  wide  val- 
ley at  the  head  of  Clark's  Fork  of  the  Columbia, 
where  they  met  about  four  hundred  Ootlashoots, 
who  received  them  kindly  and  gave  to  them  of 
their  only  food,  berries  and  roots.  Following  the 
river  they  reached  Travellers'  Rest  Creek,  where 
they  stopped  for  hunting,  as  they  were  told  the 
country  before  them  had  no  game  for  a  great 
distance.  Game  proved  to  be  so  scanty  that  they 
moved  onward,  crossing  to  the  Kooskooskee, 
where,  being  without  animal  food,  they  killed  a 
colt  for  supper.  Snow  fell  again,  which  would 
not  have  been  so  uncomfortable  had  not  their 
road  fallen  along  steep  hillsides,  obstructed  with 
dead  timber  where  not  covered  with  living  trees, 
from  which  the  snow  fell  on  them  as  they  passed, 
keeping  them  continually  wet  while  the  weath- 
er was  freezing.  The  road  continued  difficult. 
Game  was  wanting,  and  as  they  marched  they 
killed  one  after  another  of  their  colts  for  food. 
Their  horses  were  becoming  rapidly  disabled  ; 
the  allowance  of  food  scarcely  sufficed  to  check 
their  hunger;  while  the  extreme  bodily  fatigue 
of  the  march,  and  the  dreary  prospects  before 
them,  began  to  dispirit  the  men. 

Lewis,  appreciating  the  gravity  of  the  situa- 
tion, sent  Clark  ahead,  with  six  hunters,  who  the 
next  day  was  fortunate  enough  to  kill  a  horse,  on 
which  his  party  breakfasted  and  left  the  rest  for 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK       147 

the  main  expedition.  The  country  continued 
rugged,  and  in  some  places  the  only  road  was  a 
narrow  rocky  path  at  the  edge  of  very  high  prec- 
ipices. One  of  their  horses,  slipping,  rolled  a 
hundred  feet,  over  and  over,  down  a  nearly  per- 
pendicular hill  strewed  with  large  rocks.  All 
expected  he  was  killed,  but  he  proved  to  be  little 
injured.  Their  enforced  fasting  visibly  affected 
the  health  of  the  party  ;  all  lost  flesh,  grew  weak, 
and  were  troubled  with  skin  eruptions,  while 
several  were  more  seriously  ill. 

On  September  20th,  Clark  reached  a  village  of 
the  Chopunish  or  Nez  Perces,  in  a  beautiful  level 
valley,  where  he  was  kindly  received  and  well  fed. 
Fish,  roots,  and  berries  were  also  obtained,  which, 
sent  to  Lewis,  reached  him  eight  miles  out  of 
the  village  at  a  time  when  his  party  had  been 
without  food  for  more  than  a  day.  When  the 
village  was  reached,  the  party  was  in  a  deplorable 
condition  through  long  fasting  and  the  exhausting 
fatigue  of  the  march. 

Purchasing  from  the  Indians  as  much  provi- 
sions as  their  weakened  horses  could  carry,  they 
moved  on  to  the  forks  of  the  Snake,  where 
the  party  slowly  recruited  its  health  and 
strength.  They  killed  a  horse  for  the  sick,  while 
the  party  in  general  lived  on  dried  fish  and  roots, 
the  latter  causing  violent  pains  in  the  stomach. 
Five  canoes  were  made,  and  as  the  men  were 
weak  they  adopted  the  Indian  method  of  burn- 
ing them  out.  The  twelfth  day  saw  their  canoes 
finished  and  loaded  for  the  final  journey,  which 
was  to  lead  them  to  the  sea.     Lewis  cached  his 


148  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

saddles,  the  extra  powder  and  ball,  and  branding 
his  remaining  horses,  delivered  them  to  three 
Indians,  the  principal  named  Twisted-hair,  who 
agreed  to  take  good  care  of  them  till  the  return 
of  the  party,  when  additional  presents  were  to  be 
given  for  this  service. 

Their  troubles  now  seemed  to  be  over  and  they 
were  congratulating  themselves  on  their  safe 
progress,  when  they  struck  a  series  of  fifteen 
rapids.  When  passing  the  last  Sergeant  Gass's 
"  canoe  struck,  and  a  hole  being  made  in  her  side 
she  immediately  filled  and  sank.  Several  men 
who  could  not  swim  clung  to  the  boat  until 
one  of  our  canoes  could  be  unloaded,  and  with 
the  assistance  of  an  Indian  boat  they  were  all 
brought  ashore.  All  the  goods  were  so  much 
wetted  that  we  were  obliged  to  halt  for  the  night 
and  spread  them  out  to  dry.  While  all  this  was 
exhibited,  it  was  necessary  to  place  two  senti- 
nels over  the  merchandise,  for  we  found  that  the 
Indians,  though  kind  and  disposed  to  give  us  aid 
during  our  distress,  could  not  resist  the  tempta- 
tion of  pilfering  small  articles."  The  Snake  River 
was  in  general  very  beautiful,  but  it  was  filled 
with  rapids,  most  of  them  difficult,  and  one 
strewed  with  rocks,  most  hazardous. 

Food  failing,  except  fish  and  roots,  they  con- 
cluded, probably  at  the  suggestion  of  their 
Frenchmen,  to  change  their  diet,  and  being  again 
reduced  to  fish  and  roots,  made  an  experiment  to 
vary  their  food  by  purchasing  a  few  dogs,  and 
after  having  been  accustomed  to  horseflesh,  felt 
no  disrelish  to  this  new  dish.     The   Chopunish 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      149 

have  great  numbers  of  dogs,  which  they  employ 
for  domestic  purposes  but  never  eat,  and  the 
practice  of  using  the  flesh  of  that  animal  soon 
brought  the  explorers  into  ridicule  as  dog-eaters. 
"  Fortunately,  however,"  says  Clark,  "  the  habit 
of  using  this  animal  has  completely  overcome  the 
repugnance  which  we  felt  at  first,  and  the  dog, 
if  not  a  favorite  dish,  is  always  an  acceptable 
one."  Elsewhere  he  adds,  "  having  been  so  long 
accustomed  to  live  on  the  flesh  of  dogs,  the 
greater  part  of  us  had  acquired  a  fondness  for 
it,  and  our  original  aversion  for  it  is  overcome 
by  reflecting  that  on  that  food  we  were  stronger 
and  in  better  health  than  at  any  period  since 
leaving  the  buffalo  country." 

They  were  now  in  Lewis  River,  a  broad 
greenish-blue  stream  filled  with  islands  and  dan- 
gerous rapids,  which  were  passed  in  canoes,  ex- 
cept one  near  the  mouth,  where  a  land  portage 
of  a  mile  was  necessary.  This  brought  them  to 
the  junction  of  the  Lewis  and  Columbia  Rivers  on 
October  17th,  where  they  parted  from  the  Nez 
Perces.  These  Indians  lead  a  painful,  laborious 
life,  brightened  by  but  few  amusements ;  are 
healthy,  comely,  and  generally  well  dressed  ;  giv- 
en to  ornaments  of  beads,  sea-shells,  feathers,  and 
paints.  In  winter  they  collect  roots  and  hunt  the 
deer  on  snow-shoes,  toward  spring  cross  the 
mountains  to  buy  buffalo  robes,  and  in  summer 
and  autumn  catch  salmon,  usually  by  weirs  at  the 
rapids,  in  the  following  manner :  "About  the  cen- 
tre of  each  was  placed  a  basket  formed  of  wil- 
lows, eighteen  or  twenty  feet  in  length,  of  a  cy- 


150  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

lindrical  form  and  terminating  in  a  conic  shape  at 
its  lower  extremity.  This  was  situated  with  its 
mouth  upward  opposite  to  an  aperture  in  the 
weir.  The  main  channel  of  the  water  was  con- 
ducted to  this  weir,  and  as  the  fish  entered  it 
they  were  so  entangled  with  each  other  that  they 
could  not  move,  and  were  taken  out  by  untying 
the  small  end  of  the  willow  basket." 

Here  Lewis  began  to  lay  in  stores,  and,  fish  be- 
ing out  of  season,  purchased  forty  dogs,  which 
for  weeks  had  proved  to  be  the  best  food  availa- 
ble. On  October  20th  they  again  launched  their 
canoes  in  the  Columbia,  and  pushed  on  through 
the  frequent  rapids,  looking  forward  with  inter- 
est not  unmixed  with  anxiety  to  the  great  falls 
of  which  the  Indians  told  them.  Arrived  at  the 
head  of  the  rapids,  they  made  a  portage  of  nearly 
a  mile,  availing  themselves  of  the  assistance  and 
guidance  of  the  Indians.  Owing  to  the  great 
labor  of  portages  they  kept  to  the  river  when 
possible,  and  "  reached  a  pitch  of  the  river,  which, 
being  divided  by  two  large  rocks,  descended 
with  great  rapidity  down  a  fall  eight  feet  in 
height.  As  the  boats  could  not  be  navigated 
down  this  steep  descent,  we  were  obliged  to  land 
and  let  them  down  as  slowly  as  possible  by  strong 
ropes  of  elk-skin."  They  all  passed  in  safety  ex- 
cept one,  which,  being  loosed  by  the  breaking  of 
the  rope,  was  driven  down,  but  was  recovered  by 
the  Indians  below. 

Finally  they  came  to  an  extremely  dangerous 
place  where  a  tremendous  rock  projected  into 
the  river,  leaving   a  channel  of  only  forty-five 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      151 

yards,  through  which  the  Columbia  passed,  its 
waters  thrown  into  whirlpools  and  great  waves 
of  the  wildest  and  most  dangerous  character. 
As  the  portage  of  boats  over  this  high  rock  was 
impossible  in  their  situation,  Lewis  resolved  on  a 
passage  in  boats,  relying  on  dexterous  steering, 
which  carried  them  through  safely,  much  to  the 
astonishment  of  the  Indians  gathered  to  watch 
them.  Another  rapid  was  so  bad  that  all  papers, 
guns,  ammunition,  and  such  men  as  could  not 
swim  made  a  land  portage,  while  Lewis  and 
Clark  took  the  canoes  through  safely,  two  at  a 
time.  The  25th  brought  them  to  the  most  dan- 
gerous part  of  the  narrows,  which  they  con- 
cluded to  hazard  by  canoe  after  using  precau- 
tions as  to  valuable  articles  and  men.  The  first 
three  canoes  escaped  very  well,  the  fourth  nearly 
filled,  the  fifth  passed  through  with  only  a  small 
quantity  of  water. 

On  the  28th  Lewis  was  very  much  gratified  by 
seeing  an  Indian  with  a  round  hat  and  sailor's 
jacket,  which  had  come  up  the  river  by  traffic ; 
and  as  he  went  on  similar  articles  became  com- 
mon. They  passed  a  number  of  different  tribes 
who  behaved  in  a  friendly  manner,  and  among 
others  the  Eneeshur,  at  the  great  falls,  inter- 
ested them  by  their  cooking  utensils,  which  were 
baskets  so  skilfully  made  of  bark  and  grass  as  to 
serve  as  vessels  for  boiling  their  provisions. 
Some  of  the  party  were  horrified,  however,  by 
"  the  chief,  who  directed  his  wife  to  hand  him  his 
medicine  bag,  from  which  he  brought  out  four- 
teen fore-fingers,  which  he  told  us  had  once  be- 


152  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

longed  to  the  same  number  of  his  enemies  whom 
he  had  killed  in  fighting." 

On  the  31st  the}'  came  to  the  lower  falls,  where 
the  river  narrowed  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
and  fell  twenty  feet  in  a  distance  of  four  hundred 
yards,  while  below  was  another  exceedingly  bad 
rapid.  The  upper  rapid  was  so  filled  with  rocks 
that  Crusatte,  the  principal  waterman,  thought 
it  impracticable,  so  a  portage  of  four  miles  was 
made  over  the  route  followed  by  the  Indians. 
"After  their  example,  we  carried  our  small  canoe 
and  all  the  baggage  across  the  slippery  rocks  to 
the  foot  of  the  shoot.  The  four  large  canoes 
were  then  brought  down  by  slipping  them  along 
poles  placed  from  one  rock  to  another,  and  in 
some  places  by  using  partially  streams  which  es- 
caped alongside  of  the  river.  We  were  not,  how- 
ever, able  to  bring  them  across  without  three  of 
them  receiving  injuries  which  obliged  us  to  stop 
at  the  end  of  the  shoot  to  repair  them." 

On  November  2d,  Lewis  was  intensely  grati- 
fied by  the  first  appearance  of  tide-water,  and 
pushed  on  with  the  greatest  eagerness  until  he 
reached  Diamond  Island,  where  "  we  met  fifteen 
Indians  ascending  the  river  in  two  canoes  ;  but 
the  only  information  we  could  procure  from 
them  was  that  they  had  seen  three  vessels,  which 
we  presumed  to  be  European,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Columbia." 

As  he  went  on,  small  parties  of  Indians  in 
canoes  were  seen  and  many  small  villages,  prin- 
cipally of  the  Skilloots,  who  were  friendly,  well 
disposed,  desirous  of  traffic,  and  visited  so  fre- 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.   CLARK      153 

quently  as  to  be  troublesome.  One  Indian,  speak- 
ing a  little  English,  said  that  he  traded  with  a 
Mr.  Haley.  The  weather  had  become  foggy 
and  rainy,  but  on  November  7,  1805,  while  push- 
ing down  the  river  below  a  village  of  the  Wah- 
kiacums,  the  "  fog  cleared  off  and  we  enjoyed 
the  delightful  prospect  of  the  ocean — that  ocean, 
the  object  of  all  our  labors,  the  reward  of  all  our 
anxieties.  This  cheering  view  exhilarated  the 
spirits  of  all  the  party,  who  were  still  more  de- 
lighted on  hearing  the  distant  roar  of  the  break- 
ers, and  went  on  with  great  cheerfulness." 

Lewis,  not  content  with  a  sight  of  the  ocean, 
went  on,  determined  to  winter  on  the  coast.  A 
severe  storm  forced  him  to  land  under  a  high 
rocky  cliff,  where  the  party  had  scarcely  room  to 
lie  level  or  secure  their  baggage.  It  "  blew  al- 
most a  gale  directly  from  the  sea.  The  immense 
waves  now  broke  over  the  place  where  we  were 
encamped,  and  the  large  trees,  some  of  them  five 
or  six  feet  thick,  which  had  lodged  at  the  point, 
were  drifted  over  our  camp,  and  the  utmost  vigi- 
lance of  every  man  could  scarcely  save  our  ca- 
noes from  being  crushed  to  pieces.  We  remained 
in  the  water  and  drenched  with  rain  during  the 
rest  of  the  day,  our  only  food  being  some  dried 
fish  and  some  rain-water  which  we  caught.  Yet, 
though  wet  and  cold  and  some  of  them  sick 
from  using  salt  water,  the  men  are  cheerful  and 
full  of  anxiety  to  see  more  of  the  ocean."  Here 
they  were  confined  six  days,  and  the  rain 
had  lasted  ten  days,  wetting  their  merchan- 
dise through,  spoiling  their  store  of  dried  fish, 


154  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

destroying  and  rotting  their  robes  and  leather 
dresses. 

A  series  of  gales  and  long-continued  rain  did 
not  prevent  Lewis  and  Clark  from  exploring  the 
country  for  a  suitable  place  for  winter  quarters. 
Lewis  finally  discovered  a  point  of  high  land  on 
the  river  Neutel,  where  a  permanent  encamp- 
ment was  established  which  was  called  Fort 
Clatsop.  It  was  situated  in  a  thick  grove  of 
lofty  pines  several  miles  from  the  sea  and  well 
above  the  highest  tide. 

The  fort  consisted  of  seven  wooden  huts,  which 
were  covered  in  by  the  20th  of  November  and 
later  picketed,  so  as  to  afford  ample  security. 
The  party  subsisted  principally  on  elk,  of  which 
they  killed  one  hundred  and  thirty-one.  Fish 
and  berries  were  much  used  in  the  early  spring. 
Salt  was  made  in  considerable  quantities  on  the 
sea-shore,  and  some  blubber  was  secured  from  a 
stranded  whale,  105  feet  in  length.  In  general, 
the  winter  passed  without  serious  results,  except 
that  the  health  of  some  of  the  men  was  impaired 
by  the  almost  constant  rains,  there  being  but 
four  days  without  rain  in  the  first  two  months. 

The  conduct  of  the  many  Indian  tribes  with 
whom  they  had  communication  was  almost  al- 
ways friendly,  and  in  only  one  or  two  cases  did 
even  strange  Indians  from  a  distance  show  signs 
of  hostility.  The  northwest  coast  had  been 
visited  so  often  that  little  could  be  added  to  the 
knowledge  of  their  customs  and  mode  of  life. 
One  comment  of  Lewis,  is,  however,  worthy  of 
reproduction.      "  We    have    not   observed    any 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      155 

liquor  of  an  intoxicating  quality  used  among 
these  or  any  Indians  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, the  universal  beverage  being  pure  water. 
They  sometimes  almost  intoxicate  themselves  by 
smoking  tobacco,  of  which  they  are  excessively 
fond,  and  the  pleasure  of  which  they  prolong  as 
much  as  possible  by  retaining  vast  quantities  at 
a  time,  till  after  circulating  through  the  lungs 
and  stomach,  it  issues  in  volumes  from  the 
mouth  and  nostrils." 

It  appears  surprising  that  Lewis  was  ignorant 
of  the  discovery  of  the  Columbia  River  by  Cap- 
tain Robert  Gray,  for  he  says  that  the  name 
Point  Adams  was  given  by  Vancouver,  Further, 
he  was  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  the  trade  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia  was  conducted  almost 
entirely  by  vessels  from  New  England.  From 
the  English  phrases  of  the  Indian,  he  knew  that 
the  traders  must  be  "  either  English  or  American," 
and  presumed  "  that  they  do  not  belong  at  any 
establishment  at  Nootka  Sound." 

The  original  plan  contemplated  remaining  at 
Fort  Clatsop  until  April,  when  Lewis  expected  to 
renew  his  stock  of  merchandise  from  the  traders 
who  yearly  visited  the  Columbia  by  ship.  Con- 
stant rains,  however,  increased  sickness  among 
his  men,  while  game  failed  to  such  an  extent  that 
they  only  lived  from  hand  to  mouth  ;  and  as  mer- 
chandise lacked  wherewith  to  buy  food  from  the 
Indians,  it  became  necessary  to  return.  On 
departing,  he  left  among  the  Indians  a  number 
of  notices  setting  forth  briefly  the  results  of  his 
expedition  ;  one  of  these,  through  an  American 


156  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

trader,  reached  Boston  via  China  in  February, 
1807,  about  six  months  after  Lewis's  own  re- 
turn. 

On  March  24,  1806,  the  party  commenced  to 
retrace  their  long  and  dangerous  route  of  4,144 
miles  to  St.  Louis.  Their  guns  were  in  good 
order  and  the  stock  of  ammunition  plentiful,  but 
their  entire  stock  of  trading  goods  could  be  tied 
up  in  a  single  blanket. 

Detained  by  scarcity  of  fish,  they  discovered 
the  Multonah  (Willamette)  River  which,  hidden 
by  an  island,  was  not  seen  on  their  downward 
voyage.  Lieutenant  Clark  went  up  the  valley 
some  distance  to  Nechecole  village,  where  he  saw 
an  Indian  house,  all  under  one  roof,  226  feet  long. 

Of  the  valley  of  the  Willamette,  Lewis  re- 
marks that  it  was  the  only  desirable  place  of  set- 
tlement west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  it 
was  sufficiently  fertile  to  support  50,000  souls. 
He  mentions  its  rich  prairies,  its  fish,  fowl,  and 
game,  its  useful  plants  and  shrubs,  its  abundant 
and  valuable  timber. 

The  conditions  of  the  rapids  below  The  Dalles 
was  such  that  one  boat,  fortunately  empty,  was 
lost,  and  the  upper  rapids  being  impracticable, 
they  broke  up  or  traded  all  their  boats  and 
canoes  but  two,  which  were  carried  to  the  upper 
river.  They  proceeded  with  the  horses,  that  had 
been  purchased  with  the  greatest  difficulty.  Brat- 
ton,  too  ill  to  walk,  being  on  horseback,  and  on 
April  27th  reached  a  village  of  the  Wallawallas, 
near  the  mouth  of  Snake  or  Lewis  River.  Here 
they  were  so  well  received  that  Lewis  says  :  "  Of 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK       157 

all  the  Indians  whom  we  have  met  since  leaving 
the  United  States,  the  Wallawallas  were  the 
most  hospitable,  honest,  and  sincere." 

Their  horses  recruited  to  twenty-three  head, 
cheered  by  information  of  a  new  route  which 
would  save  eighty  miles,  and  with  Wallawalla 
guides,  they  moved  in  early  May  up  the  valley 
of  Snake  or  Lewis  River,  and  finding  it  too  early 
to  cross  the  mountains,  encamped  in  the  forko 
of  the  Kooskoosky,  having  meanwhile  received 
back  from  their  savage  friend  Twisted-hair  their 
thirty-eight  horses  intrusted  to  his  care  the  pre- 
vious year.  Their  journey  by  land  was  marked 
by  great  scarcity  of  food,  which  was  roots  or 
dog,  except  when  the  officers,  practicing  medi- 
cine for  sick  Indians,  obtained  horses  for  food. 
The  use  of  dog,  which  was  now  very  palatable, 
caused  derision  among  the  Indians.  On  one  oc- 
casion an  Indian  threw  a  half-starved  puppy  into 
Lewis's  plate,  with  laughter,  which  turned  to 
chagrin  when  Lewis  flung  the  animal  with  great 
force  into  the  savage's  face  and  threatened  to 
brain  him  with  a  tomahawk.  The  Indians  lived 
almost  entirely  on  fish  during  the  salmon  season, 
and  on  roots  the  rest  of  the  year.  Their  houses 
were  collected  under  one  roof,  with  many  apart- 
ments, and  two  were  seen  each  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  long.  The  difficulties  of 
communicating  with  the  Chopunnish  were  very 
great,  and  if  errors  occurred  it  was  not  astonish- 
ing. Lewis  spoke  in  English,  which  was  trans- 
lated by  one  of  the  men  in  French  to  Chaboneau, 
who  repeated  it  in  Minnetaree  to  his  wife.     She 


158  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

put  it  into  Shoshonee  to  a  prisoner,  who  trans- 
lated it  into  Chopunnish  dialect. 

An  attempt  in  early  June  to  cross  the  moun- 
tains failed,  the  snow  being  ten  feet  deep  on  a 
level.  On  June  24th  they  started  again,  and  with 
great  privations  succeeded  in  following  their 
trail  of  the  previous  September  across  the  Bitter- 
root  Mountains  to  Traveller's-rest  Creek,  on 
Clark  Fork,  which  was  reached  June  30th. 

Here  the  party  divided  in  order  to  thoroughly 
explore  different  portions  of  the  country.  Lewis 
took  the  most  direct  route  to  the  great  falls  of 
the  Missouri,  whence  he  was  to  explore  Maria's 
River  to  50°  N.  latitude.  Clark  proceeded  to 
the  head  of  Jefferson  River,  down  which  Ser- 
geant Ordway  was  to  go  in  the  canoes  cached 
there.  Clark  himself  was  to  cross  by  the  short- 
est route  to  the  Yellowstone,  and  building  canoes, 
descend  to  its  mouth  and  rejoin  the  main  party 
at  that  point. 

Lewis  went  into  the  Maria's  River  country, 
but  was  unable  to  proceed  far  through  lack 
of  game.  He  there  fell  in  with  a  band  of  Minne- 
tarees,  who  attempted  to  steal  his  arms  and 
horses,  which  resulted  in  a  skirmish  wherein  two 
Indians  were  killed,  the  only  deaths  by  violence 
during  the  expedition.  Then  turning  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Maria's  River,  they  were  rejoined 
by  Ordway's  party,  and  on  August  7th  reached 
the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone,  where  a  note  from 
Clark  informed  them  of  his  safe  arrival  and  camp- 
ing place  a  few  miles  below. 

Clark  had  explored  portions  of  the  valleys  of 


CAPTAIN  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK      159 

the  Jefferson,  Gallatin,  and  Madison,  and  had 
prescience  of  the  wonders  of  the  Yellowstone  in 
a  boiling-hot  spring  discovered  at  the  head  of 
Wisdom  River.  His  journey  to  Clark's  fork  of 
the  Yellowstone  was  made  with  comfort  and 
safety,  but  there  an  accident  to  one  of  his  men 
obliged  him  to  make  canoes,  during  which  delay 
the  Indians  stole  twenty-four  of  his  horses. 

As  Lewis  descended  the  Missouri  he  saw  that 
the  tide  of  travel  and  adventure  was  already 
following  in  his  track,  and  two  daring  Illinoisans, 
Dickson  and  Hancock,  were  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Yellowstone  on  a  hunting  trip.  Rapidly  de- 
scending the  river  the  23d  of  September  saw  the 
party  safe  at  St.  Louis,  the  initial  point  of  their 
great  and  eventful  expedition. 

The  great  continental  journey  to  and  fro,  from 
ocean  to  ocean,  across  barren  deserts,  through 
dangerous  waterways,  over  snow-clad  mountains, 
among  savage  and  unknown  tribes,  had  been 
accomplished  with  a  success  unparalleled  in  the 
world  of  modern  adventure  and  exploration. 

This  expedition  was  fraught  with  successful 
results  second  to  none  other  ever  undertaken  in 
the  United  States.  The  extent,  fertility,  and 
possibilities  of  the  great  trans-Mississippi  were 
made  known,  the  possibility  of  crossing  the 
American  continent  was  demonstrated,  the  loca- 
tion of  the  great  rivers  and  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains determined,  the  general  good-will  of  the  in- 
terior Indians  proved,  and  the  practicability  of 
trade  and  intercourse  established.  Furthermore, 
conjoined  with  the  discovery  of  the  Columbia  by 


160      EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

Gray,  it  laid  the  foundations  of  a  claim  which,  con- 
firmed by  settlement  and  acknowledged  by  Great 
Britain,  gave  the  United  States  its  first  foothold 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  ultimately  secured  to 
the  American  nation  not  only  the  magnificent 
States  of  Oregon  and  Washington,  but  also  the 
golden  vales  and  mountains  of  California. 

Well  might  Jefferson  declare  that  "  never  did 
a  similar  event  (their  successful  return)  excite 
more  joy  through  the  United  States.  The  hum- 
blest of  its  citizens  had  taken  a  lively  interest  in 
the  issue  of  this  journey." 

Clark  was  an  able  and  faithful  assistant  to  the 
unfortunate  Lewis,  who  did  not  live  to  write  the 
full  story  of  the  expedition.  It  seems,  however, 
that  the  disposition  in  some  quarters  to  regard 
Clark  as  the  man  to  whom  the  success  of  the  ex- 
pedition was  in  greater  part  due,  finds  no  justi- 
fication in  a  careful  perusal  of  the  narratives. 
So  great  a  work  was  enough  glory  for  the  two 
men,  the  commander  and  the  assistant. 

Clark's  future  career  must  be  considered  some- 
what of  a  disappointment.  During  his  absence 
he  was  promoted  to  be  a  first  lieutenant  of  ar- 
tillery, and  on  his  return  was  nominated  by 
Jefferson  to  be  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Second 
Infantry ;  but  the  Senate,  by  a  vote  of  twenty  to 
nine,  declined  to  confirm  him,  and  he  resigned 
his  commission  as  lieutenant  February  27,  1807. 
Later  he  was  an  Indian  agent  and  a  brigadier- 
general  of  the  militia  for  the  territory  of  upper 
Louisiana,  with  station  at  St.  Louis.  In  181 2 
he    decHned   an    appointment   as    brigadier-gen- 


CAPTAiy  LEWIS  AND  LIEUT.  CLARK       161 

eral,  and  the  opportunity  of  having  Hull's  com- 
mand— a  declination  which  was  an  injury  to  his 
country  if  he  had  the  military  ability  attributed 
to  him.  Madison  appointed  him  Governor  of 
the  Territory  of  Missouri,  which  office  he  filled 
from  1813  to  the  admission  of  Missouri  as  a  State 
in  1 82 1.  Contrary  to  his  wishes,  he  was  nomi- 
nated for  the  first  governor,  but  failed  of  election. 
Monroe,  in  May,  1822,  appointed  him  Superin- 
tendent of  Indian  Affairs,  with  station  at  St. 
Louis,  which  olfice  he  filled  until  his  death,  Sep- 
tember I,  1838. 

Captain  Lewis  did  not  live  to  long  enjoy 
the  honors  that  he  had  so  bravely  won.  He 
reached  Washington  the  middle  of  February, 
1807,  when  Congress,  which  was  in  session,  made 
to  both  leaders  and  men  the  donation  of  lands 
which  they  had  been  encouraged  to  expect  as 
some  reward  for  their  toil  and  danger. 

The  President  considered  the  discoveries  of 
sufficient  importance  to  present  them  to  Con- 
gress in  a  special  message,  on  February  19,  1806, 
and  in  appreciation  of  Captain  Lewis's  valuable 
services,  immediately  appointed  him  to  be  Gov- 
ernor of  Louisiana,  which  office  Lewis  accepted, 
resigning  for  that  purpose  from  the  army  on 
March  4,  1807. 

Of  the  civil  services  of  Governor  Lewis,  Jeffer- 
son says :  "  He  found  the  Territory  distracted 
by  feuds  and  contentions  among  the  officers,  and 
the  people  divided  into  factions.  .  .  .  He 
used  every  endeavor  to  conciliate  and  harmon- 
ize.    .     .     .     The  even-handed  justice  he  admin- 


162  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

istered  to  all  soon  established  a  respect  for  his 
person  and  authority." 

While  on  the  way  to  Washington,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1809,  Governor  Lewis,  in  a  fit  of  derangement, 
killed  himself,  thus,  to  quote  again  from  Jeffer- 
son, "  depriving  his  country  of  one  of  her  most 
valued  citizens,"  who  endeared  himself  to  his 
countrymen  by  "  his  sufferings  and  successes,  in 
endeavoring  to  extend  for  them  the  bounds  of 
science,  and  to  present  to  their  knowledge  that 
vast  and  fertile  country,  which  their  sons  are 
destined  to  fill  with  arts,  with  science,  with  free- 
dom, and  happiness."  Surely  posterity  will  de- 
clare that  Meriwether  Lewis  lived  not  in  vain. 


VI. 

ZEBULON    MONTGOMERY    PIKE, 

Explorer  of  the  Sources  of  the  Mississippi 
AND  Arkansas  Rivers. 

The  trans-continental  expedition  of  Captain 
Lewis  and  Lieutenant  Clark  was  only  a  part  of  the 
comprehensive  plan  of  Jefferson,  which  looked 
to  the  acquiring  of  definite  and  precise  informa- 
tion concerning  not  only  the  extreme  Northwest 
Territory,  but  also  of  the  entire  trans-Mississippi 
regions,  whereon  might  be  based  intelligent  ac- 
tion, so  as  to  insure  to  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  the  greatest  benefits  of  internal  trade  and 
commerce.  It  was  surmised  that  the  adventu- 
rous and  enterprising  traders  of  the  Hudson  Bay, 
or  Northwest  Company,  had  encroached  on  the 
valuable  hunting  grounds  near  the  sources  of 
the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  rivers;  while  to 
the  southwest  the  secretive  and  jealous  policy  of 
Spain  had  so  well  guarded  its  limited  geograph- 
ical knowledge,  that  the  United  States  was  in 
such  utter  ignorance  of  its  newly  acquired  ter- 
ritory that  it  was  impossible  to  even  outline 
a  definite  proposition  for  the  determination  of 
exact  boundary  lines  between  Louisiana  and  the 
province  of  New  Spain. 

The  obtaining  of  information  for  the  solution 
of  these  problems  was   intrusted,  in   the   order 


164  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

named,  to  a  young  and  promising  officer  of  the 
regular  army,  Zebulon  Montgomery  Pike,  then  a 
first  lieutenant  and  paymaster  in  the  First  regi- 
ment of  Infantry.  Pike  was  of  military  stock,  as 
his  father,  Zebulon  Pike,  had  served  as  a  captain 
in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  even  then  a 
major  of  his  son's  regiment  was  destined  to  live 
to  see  that  son  fall  as  a  general  officer.  The  son, 
born  at  Lamberton,  N.  J.,  aspired  early  to  mil- 
itary life,  and  from  a  cadet  in  the  ranks  rose 
through  the  grades  regularly. 

I.  The  Sources  of  the  Mississippi. 

In  1805  the  governor  of  Louisiana  was  James 
Wilkinson,  a  brigadier-general  in,  and  com- 
mander-in-chief of,  the  army  of  the  United  States, 
who  was  then  stationed  at  St.  Louis.  Pike  ap- 
pears to  have  been  considered  by  Wilkinson  as 
an  officer  well  suited  to  obtain  definite  informa- 
tion about  this  vast  territory,  and  consequently 
Lieutenant  Pike,  with  twenty  enlisted  men,  was 
furnished  provisions  for  four  months,  and,  under 
orders  to  visit  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi,  left 
St.  Louis  in  a  large  flat-boat,  at  about  the  worst 
season  of  the  year,  on  August  9,  1805. 

The  first  experiences  were  not  encouraging, 
for  the  crew,  through  inexperience  or  ill-luck, 
developed  a  faculty  of  picking  up  sawyers,  or 
submerged  trees,  which  on  one  occasion  stove 
the  boat  so  badly  that,  half-sinking,  she  was 
dragged  with  difficulty  on  a  shoal  where  the 
baggage  could  be  dried  and  the  boat  repaired. 


ZEBULON  MONTGOMERY  PIKE 


165 


Here  and  there  along  the  river  were  seen  small 
bands  of  Indians,  and  in  due  time  the  village  of 
the  Sacs  was  reached  at  the  head  of  the  Des 
Moines  rapids.     The   Sac   chiefs,  assembled    in 


General  Z.  M   Pike. 


council,  were  told  that  their  great  and  new  father 
had  sent  one  of  his  young  warriors  to  their  na- 
tion, in  the  lately  acquired  territory  of  Louis- 
iana, to  inquire  as  to  their  wants,  to  give  them 
good  advice,  to  make  peace,  and  to  locate,  ac- 
cording to  their  wishes  and  needs,  trading  estab- 


166  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

lishments  and  posts.  The  Indians  answered 
acceptably,  but  appeared  to  appreciate  the  pres- 
ents of  knives,  whiskey,  and  tobacco  more  than 
the  speech.  Vague  rumors  obtained  as  to  the 
value  and  importance  of  the  lead  mine  near,  be- 
low Turkey  River,  but  Mr.  Dubuque,  the  pro- 
prietor, was  too  shrewd  for  the  young  officer,  and 
to  his  inquiries  said  that  information  as  to  the 
grant,  etc.,  was  in  St.  Louis,  that  he  made  from 
ten  to  twenty  tons  of  lead  3^early,  and  gave 
equally  indefinite  answers  to  other  questions. 
A  journey  of  four  weeks  from  St.  Louis  brought 
Pike  to  Prairie-du-Chien,  then  the  only  place 
settled  by  white  men  in  the  whole  valley  of  the 
Mississippi  above  St.  Louis.  Originally  occupied 
by  three  Frenchmen,  Giard,  Antaya,  and  Du- 
buque, in  1783,  it  was  now  a  scattered  settlement 
of  thirty-seven  houses,  with  about  three  hundred 
and  seventy  whites.  The  Wisconsin  River, 
which  here  joins  the  Mississippi,  was  yet  the 
great  line  of  communication  between  the  great 
lakes  and  the  entire  valley  from  St.  Louis  north- 
ward, all  goods  and  furs  passing  to  and  fro  over 
the  route  first  traced  by  Joliet  in  his  adventurous 
voyage  of  discovery  in  1673.  At  Prairie-du- 
Chien  the  Indians  assembled  each  autumn  for 
the  annual  trade  or  fair,  and  every  spring  the 
Indian  traders  here  paused  in  their  western 
journey  before  plunging  into  the  savage  wilder- 
ness. Both  these  occasions,  it  is  needless  to  say, 
furnished  frequent  scenes  of  violence  and  dissi- 
pation. 

Unable  to  get  his  large  barge  above  the  rapids 


ZEBULON  MONTGOMERY  PIKE  167 

at  Prairie-du-Chien,  Pike  hired  other  boats  above 
the  falls  and  proceeded,  his  party  augmented  by 
an  interpreter,  Pierre  Roseau,  and  Mr.  Fraser,  a 
trader  who  was  going  to  the  Falls  of  St.  An- 
thony on  business. 

A  short  distance  above  Prairie-du-Chien,  Pike 
had  a  council  with  the  Sioux,  who  evidently 
were  recovering  from  a  feast,  and  here  he  saw  a 
religious  puff  dance,  "  the  performance  of  which 
was  attended  with  many  curious  manoeuvres. 
Men  and  women  danced  indiscriminately.  They 
were  all  dressed  in  the  gayest  manner ;  all  had 
in  their  hands  a  small  skin  of  some  description, 
and  would  frequently  run  up,  point  their  skin, 
and  give  a  puff  with  their  breath ;  when  the 
person  blown  at,  whether  man  or  woman,  would 
fall  and  appear  to  be  almost  lifeless,  or  in  great 
agony ;  but  would  recover  slowly,  rise,  and  join 
in  the  dance.  This  they  called  their  great  medi- 
cine." 

Tobacco,  knives,  vermilion,  and  whiskey  ce- 
mented the  good  feeling,  the  eight  gallons  of 
whiskey  being  more  show  than  reality  ;  for  it  ap- 
pears from  the  context  to  have  been  three-fourths 
water,  and  probably  was  of  the  kind  which  Pike 
elsewhere  called  "  made  whiskey." 

The  uncertain  weather  of  Lake  Pepin  nearly 
shipwrecked  the  boats,  which  reached  the  Sioux 
village  at  the  junction  of  the  Mississippi  and  St. 
Peters,  or  Minnesota,  on  September  nth.  Here 
a  council  was  held  with  the  Sioux,  wherein  two  of 
the  chiefs  formally  signed  away  a  square  league 
of  land  at  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.     The  true 


108      EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

value  of  their  signatures  may  be  estimated  from 
Pike's  letter  to  General  Wilkinson,  wherein  he 
says :  ''  I  had  to  fee  privately  two  (doubtless 
the  signers)  of  the  chiefs,  and  besides  that,  to 
make  them  presents  at  the  council."  In  addition 
to  the  transfer  of  land  Pike  pledged  to  have  a 
trading  post  established  there,  and  urged  that 
the  Sioux  maintain  peaceful  relations  with  the 
Chippeways. 

It  is  somewhat  amusing  to  read  Pike's  address, 
where  in  one  breath  he  states  that  rum  "occa- 
sions quarrels,  murders,  etc.,  among  yourselves. 
For  this  reason  your  father  has  thought  proper 
to  prohibit  the  traders  from  selling  you  any  rum  ;" 
and  then  accepting  the  situation,  adds,  "  before 
my  departure  I  will  give  you  some  liquor  to  clear 
your  throats."  There  were  tAvo  hundred  and 
fifty  warriors  present,  and  it  appears  to  have 
taken  sixty  gallons  of  liquor  to  effect  the  clearing 
operation,  while  peace  with  the  Chippeways  as- 
sumed an  indefinite  phase. 

The  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  were  passed  by  land 
portage.  These  being  the  first  boats  to  make  the 
portage,  as  Pike  claims,  it  was  with  no  small  feel- 
ing of  relief  that  he  saw  his  boats  in  the  upper 
river,  loaded  for  the  journey,  on  September  30th. 
His  condition  was  at  the  best  discouraging,  for  as 
he  says,  "  I  had  not  accomplished  more  than  half 
my  route  ;  winter  fast  approaching ;  war  existing 
between  the  most  savage  nations  in  the  course  of 
my  route  ;  my  provisions  greatly  diminished,  and 
but  a  poor  prospect  of  an  additional  supply. 
Many  of  my  men  sick,  and  the  others  not  a  little 


ZEBULON  MONTGOMERY  PIKE  169 

disheartened  ;  our  success  in  this  arduous  under- 
taking very  doubtful,  and  about  to  launch  into 
an  unknown  wilderness." 

Rapids  and  shoals  impeded  progress  somewdiat, 
but  the  loth  of  October  brought  them  to  an 
island  where  the  interpreter  had  wintered  with 
another  Frenchman  in  1797.  Pike  made  every 
exertion  to  hasten,  for  he  was  very  desirous  of 
reaching  Crow-wing  River,  the  highest  point 
ever  attained  by  trappers  in  birch  canoes.  The 
bad  weather,  snow,  injury  to  his  boats,  and  the 
breaking  down  of  several  of  his  men,  combined 
to  render  further  advance  impossible,  and  on 
October  i6th  he  fixed  his  winter  quarters  at  the 
mouth  of  Pine  River,  233  miles  above  the  Falls 
of  St.  Anthony.  Pike's  intentions  were  far  from 
passing  the  winter  himself  in  a  wretched  canton- 
ment, for  his  was  a  nature  foreign  to  such  isola- 
tion and  inactivity  as  the  place  promised. 

Elsewhere  he  adds :  "  It  appears  to  me  that  the 
wealth  of  nations  would  not  induce  me  to  remain 
secluded  from  the  society  of  civilized  mankind, 
surrounded  by  a  savage  and  unproductive  wil- 
derness, without  books  or  other  sources  of  intel- 
lectual enjoyment,  or  being  blessed  with  the  cul- 
tivated and  feeling  mind  of  the  civilized  fair." 

Huts  were  built,  canoes  made,  game  obtained, 
all  with  great  difficulty  and  hardship,  for  every 
burden  fell  on  Pike,  without  the  aid  of  a  doctor 
or  assistant  as  his  second  in  command.  In  a 
game  country,  and  under  conditions  where  his 
insufficient  food-supply  must  be  eked  out  by  the 
rifle,  he  was  such  an  indifferent  hunter  that  he 


170  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

did  the  maximum  of  work  with  the  minimum  of 
result.  Unskilled  in  canoe-making  and  manage- 
ment, he  succeeded  in  building  three  canoes,  of 
which  one  sank,  wetting  and  injuring  his  supply 
of  ammunition,  with  the  result  that  finally  he  blew 
up  his  tent  in  drying  out  the  powder. 

Occasionally  small  hunting  parties  of  Sioux  or 
of  Menominees  came  to  the  camp,  and  on  De- 
cember 3d  Mr.  Dickson,  who  had  a  trading  post 
sixty  miles  to  the  south,  visited  Pike  and  cheered 
him  up.  Dickson  possessed  much  geographical 
information  about  the  western  country,  and  in  ad- 
dition to  useful  directions  as  to  the  best  route 
for  Pike  to  follow,  expressed  his  confidence  in 
its  fullest  success. 

It  would  seem  doubtful  if  the  men  shared  the 
enthusiasm  for  a  mid-winter  trip  through  an  un- 
known country  filled  with  savages  and  where 
game  must  form  a  considerable  part  of  their  food. 
At  all  events,  they  managed  to  split  a  canoe  which 
their  commander  relied  on  for  the  journey.  Pike 
was  dissatisfied,  but  not  discouraged,  and  on  De- 
cember loth  started  northward  with  eleven  men, 
a  boat,  and  five  sleds. 

At  the  stockade  there  were  nine  men  under 
Sergeant  Kennerman,  who  was  given  detailed 
written  instructions  as  to  his  duties.  Mindful  of 
the  possible  dangers  to  his  own  party.  Pike  also 
gave  orders  as  to  the  course  to  be  pursued  if  his 
own  party  did  not  return  to  the  cantonment  by 
a  given  date  the  following  spring. 

A  boat  was  taken  along,  which  the  freezing 
river  soon  obliged  Pike  to  abandon  and  intrust 


ZEBULON  MONTGOMERY  PIKE  171 

to  a  young-  Indian  for  the  winter.  The  journey 
was  practicall}'  made  by  common  sleds,  dragged 
by  men  harnessed  up  two  abreast.  Often  the 
sleds  broke  down,  making  necessary  frequent 
changes  and  portages  of  the  baggage,  but  they 
were  greatly  encouraged  by  camping  at  Crow- 
wing  River,  the  farthest  point  ever  reached  by 
canoe. 

In  early  January  they  ran  across  four  Chippe- 
way  Indians,  the  tribe  from  which  hostility  was 
possible.  Their  anxiety  was  speedily  relieved  by 
finding  that  they  were  companions  of  Mr.  Grant, 
a  trader  from  the  post  on  Sandy  Lake.  Grant 
turned  back  with  them,  and  they  reached  the 
trading-post  on  Red  Cedar  Lake  on  January  3, 
1806.  Pike's  satisfaction  at  seeing  a  house  once 
more  was  tinctured  with  chagrin  at  finding  it 
surmounted  by  a  British  flag.  Here  he  tarried 
only  a  few  hours  and  then  pushed  on  to  Sandy 
Lake,  where  he  was  later  joined  by  his  men,  who 
were  delayed  by  their  heavy  sleds.  He  was 
much  surprised  at  the  air  of  comfort  at  Sand}' 
Lake,  where  potatoes  were  grown  in  great  quan- 
tities, fish  and  game  abundant,  while  the  Indians 
furnished  in  trade  maple-sugar,  wild  oats,  and 
rice.  The  Sandy  Lake  trading-post  had  been 
established  in  1794,  and  might  be  considered  the 
headquarters  of  the  Fond-du-Lac  department,  in 
which,  in  1805,  there  were  one  hundred  and  nine 
employees,  with  fifty  children  and  twenty-nine 
women,  who  were  all  Indian  or  half-breed,  there 
not  being  at  that  time  a  single  white  woman 
northwest  of  Lake  Superior. 


172 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


Pike's  discerning  mind  noted  that  his  methods 
of  travel  were  inferior  to  those  followed  in  the 
country,  so  he  built  sleds  after  the  Hudson  Bay 
pattern,  adopted  the  racket  or  snow-shoe  for  the 


Indian   Snow-shoes. 


winter  march,  and  hired  local  Indian  guides. 
Grant,  the  trader,  accompanied  him  to  Leech 
Lake,  which  Pike  believed  to  be  the  main  source 
of  the  Mississippi,  but  he  could  not  consider  it  as 
an  original  discovery,  as  the  ubiquitous  North- 


ZEBULON  MONTGOMERY  PIKE  173 

west  Company  had  an  establishment  on  this  lake, 
under  Hugh  McGillis,  in  47°  16'  N.  latitude, 
about  twenty  miles  east  of  Lake  Itasca,  the  true 
source  of  the  Mississippi.  On  February  14th 
Pike  visited  Red  Lake  and  passed  to  the  north, 
which  carried  him  to  the  drainage-basin  of  the 
Red  River,  in  latitude  47°  43'  N,  Evidently  fa- 
miliar with  Carver's  travels,  he  fell  into  the  not 
unreasonable  error  of  thinking  this  land  "  to  be 
the  most  elevated  part  of  the  northeast  continent 
of  America,"  whereas  the  head  of  the  Minnesota 
is  some  four  hundred  feet  higher. 

Pike  held  a  council  with  the  Chippeways  at 
Leech  Lake  on  February  14th,  when  he  per- 
suaded the  chiefs  to  give  up  their  British  flags 
and  medals,  to  promise  peace  with  the  Sioux, 
and  to  send  two  of  their  young  chiefs  with  him 
to  St.  Louis. 

As  to  the  trading  establishments,  he  gener- 
ously refrained  from  seizing  the  goods,  but 
hauled  down  the  British  flag ;  required  the 
agents  of  the  Northwest  Company  to  promise  to 
issue  no  more  flags  or  medals  to  Indians,  to  have 
no  political  dealings  with  them,  but  to  refer  them 
to  agents  of  the  United  States  ;  to  obtain  licenses 
for  Indian  trade  from  and  pay  duty  to  the 
United  States  for  all  imported  goods. 

On  February  14th  he  turned  his  face  toward 
home,  his  mind  free  from  anxiety,  though  he 
knew  the  hard  marches,  extreme  cold,  and  many 
hardships  before  him.  He  now  wore  snow-shoes, 
but  on  one  long  march  the  pressure  of  his  racket- 
strings  brought  the  blood  through  his  socks  and 


174  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

moccasins,  yet  he  marched  on,  keeping  pace  with 
his  guide  despite  the  excruciating  pain. 

March  5th  found  Pike  back  in  his  stockade  at 
Pine  River,  his  adoption  of  local  methods  having 
facilitated  travel  to  such  an  extent  that  in  his  re- 
turn he  nearly  tripled  the  length  of  his  outward 
marches.  He  found  the  garrison  well  and  safe, 
but  was  greatly  disturbed  to  find  that  his  trusted 
sergeant,  Kennerman,  had  indulged  in  riotous 
and  extravagant  living,  having  drank  up,  eaten, 
given  away,  or  traded  off  the  best  of  the  food 
and  the  greater  part  of  the  liquor.  The  natural 
sequence  of  such  conduct  appeared  in  an  esca- 
pade where  the  sentinel  made  a  Sioux  Indian 
drunk  and  then  ordered  him  out  of  the  tent, 
when  the  intoxicated  savage  fired  on  the  sentinel, 
fortunately  without  harm.  On  his  return  he  was 
fortunate  enough,  in  a  Menominee  camp  near  the 
stockade,  to  see  a  dance,  called  the  feast  of  the 
dead,  at  which  "  every  three  were  served  with  a 
panful  of  meat,  and  when  all  were  ready  there 
was  a  prayer,  after  which  the  eating  commenced. 
It  was  expected  we  would  eat  up  our  portion  en- 
tirely, being  careful  not  to  drop  a  bone.  We 
were  then  treated  with  soup.  After  the  eating 
was  finished  the  chief  again  gave  an  exhortation, 
which  finished  the  ceremony.  They  gather  up 
the  fragments  and  threw  them  in  the  water,  lest 
the  dogs  should  get  them.  Burning  them  is  con- 
sidered sacreligious." 

Leaving  his  cantonment  at  Pine  River,  by  boat, 
on  April  7th  he  descended  the  Mississippi  with 
out  any  strikingly  new  experiences,  and  on  the  last 


ZEBULON  MONTGOMERY  PIKE  lib 

day  of  the  month  drew  up  his  boat  at  St.  Louis, 
with  undiminished  numbers,  after  an  absence  of 
nearly  nine  months. 

Pike  had  more  than  carried  out  his  orders  to 
explore  the  sources  of  the  great  river,  and  did 
something  more  than  give  to  the  world  the  first 
definite  and  detailed  information  as  to  the  upper 
river  and  its  tributaries.  He  discovered  the  ex- 
tent and  importance  of  the  British  trade  in  that 
country,  brought  the  foreign  traders  under  the 
license  and  customs  regulations  of  the  United 
States,  and  broke  up  for  all  time  their  political 
influence  over  the  Indians.  He  did  much  to  re- 
strain the  unlawful  sale  of  liquor  to  Indians  by  do- 
mestic traders,  and  not  only  inspired  the  Indians 
with  respect  for  Americans,  but  also  induced 
them  to  at  least  a  temporary  peace  between  them- 
selves. He  replaced  a  foreign  flag  by  the  ensign 
of  his  own  country,  and  for  the  first  time  brought 
into  this  great  territory  the  semblance  of  national 
authority  and  government. 

II.    The  Upper  Arkansas  River  and  New 
Spain. 

Pike  returned  to  And  his  services  in  demand 
for  a  second  expedition  to  the  head-waters  of  the 
Arkansas  and  Red  rivers.  The  original  arrange- 
ments contemplated  the  detail  of  another  officer, 
but  Pike,  at  the  solicitation  of  General  Wilkinson, 
consented  to  take  command  of  the  party,  com- 
menced his  preparations  at  once,  and  received 
his  formal  orders  on  June  24,  1806,  less  than  two 


176  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

months  after  his  return  from  the  north.  In 
accepting  this  long  and  dangerous  service,  he 
indicates  clearly  the  soldierly  sense  of  duty 
which  actuated  him.  "  The  late  dangers  and 
hardships  I  had  undergone,  together  with  the 
idea  of  again  leaving  my  family  in  a  strange 
country,  distant  from  their  connections,  made 
me  hesitate ;  but  the  ambition  of  a  soldier  and 
the  spirit  of  enterprise  which  was  inherent  in 
my  breast  induced  me  to  agree." 

The  primary  object  of  the  expedition,  accord- 
ing to  the  letter  of  instructions,  was  to  conduct 
to  Grand  Osage  a  deputation  of  freed  captives 
of  the  Osage  Nation,  while  the  subordinate  pur- 
poses were  the  accomplishment  of  a  permanent 
peace  between  the  Kaws  and  Osages  and  the 
establishment  of  a  good  understanding  with 
the  Comanches,  which  latter  object,  the  letter 
runs,  "will  probably  lead  you  to  the  head 
branches  of  the  Arkansas  and  Red  rivers, 
approximated  to  the  settlements  of  New 
Mexico,  and  there  you  should  move  with  great 
circumspection,  to  keep  clear  of  any  reconnoi- 
tring parties  from  that  province,  and  to  prevent 
alarm  or  offence.  The  executive,"  it  was  added, 
"  is  much  interested  in  ascertaining  the  direction, 
extent,  and  navigation  of  the  Arkansas  and  Red 
rivers,"  which  Pike  was  charged  to  determine 
by  sending  one  party  down  the  Arkansas,  while 
he  should  return  by  the  Red. 

The  written  instructions  were  doubtless  sup- 
plemented by  verbal  orders,  for  Pike  says:  "  The 
great  objects  in  view  (as  T  conceived)  were  to 


ZEBULON  MONTGOMERY  PIKE  177 

attach  the  Indians  to  our  Government  and  to  ac- 
quire such  geographical  knowledge  of  the  south- 
western boundary  of  Louisiana  as  to  enable  our 
Government  to  enter  into  a  definite  arrangement 
for  a  line  of  demarcation  between  that  territory 
and  North  Mexico." 

Captain  Pike's*  force  consisted  of  two  officers, 
an  interpreter,  and  nineteen  men  of  the  army. 
The  officers  were  Lieutenant  James  B.  Wilkinson, 
son  of  and  aide-de-camp  to  General  Wilkinson, 
and  Doctor  John  H.  Robinson,  the  latter  a  volun- 
teer without  pay.  The  party,  with  fifty-one  Osage 
Indians,  left  Belle  Fontaine,  July  15,  1806,  and 
travelling  by  boat  up  the  Missouri  and  Osage 
rivers  reached  Grand  Osage,  near  the  head  of 
the  river,  August  i8th,  thus  accomplishing  the 
"  primary  object." 

Pike  found  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  an  audi- 
ence for  speeches,  though  he  was  somewhat  dis- 
mayed at  the  presence  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty-six  warriors  at  an  assembly,  to  all  of 
whom  he  was  obliged  to  give  liquor.  It  was 
quite  different  when  men  and  horses  were  want- 
ed, and  it  was  with  the  utmost  endeavor  that 
he  was  able  to  start  westward  on  September  ist, 
with  fifteen  horses  for  his  baggage,  accompanied 
by  only  three  Pawnees  and  four  Osages. 

Crossing  the  Grand  and  Verdigris  he  passed 
through  a  beautiful  country  with  abundant  game, 
but  the  Indians  became  restless,  and  despite  his 
presents  and  persuasions,  only   three  accompa- 

*  He  obtained  his  captaincy  in  August,  1806. 
13 


178  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

nied  him  to  the  Pawnee  village  on  the  Republican 
fork  of  the  Kansas. 

The  information  here  obtained  and  the  stand 
taken  by  the  Pawnee  chief  would  have  deterred 
a  less  courageous  and  determined  man  than  Pike 
from  pushing  beyond.  A  large  Spanish  force, 
some  six  hundred  men,  had  a  few  days  before 
visited  the  Pawnees,  when  they  had  turned  back 
on  assurances  from  the  chief  that  he  would  turn 
back  any  American  force. 

It  appears  that  foreign  emissaries  at  St. 
Louis  had  sent  word  to  the  authorities  of  New 
Spain  of  Pike's  contemplated  expedition,  and 
steps  were  immediately  taken  to  defeat  its  ob- 
jects. The  command  of  the  Spanish  force  was 
assigned  to  Lieutenant  Don  Facundo  Malgares, 
an  officer  of  reputation  in  Indian  warfare,  who 
collected  one  hundred  dragoons  and  five  hun- 
dred militia  at  Santa  Fe,  N.  M.  Each  man 
was  mounted,  had  three  led  animals  and  six 
months'  supply  of  ammunition.  First  they  de- 
scended the  Red  River  about  seven  hundred 
miles,  with  the  expectation  of  meeting  and  turn- 
ing back  Pike,  but  learned  that  no  force  had 
passed  that  way.  The  Spanish  commander,  after 
holding  a  council  with  the  Comanches  for  the 
purpose  of  winning  them  over  to  the  interests 
of  New  Spain,  then  turned  north  to  the  Arkan- 
sas. Here  Malgares  put  in  camp  two  hundred 
and  forty  of  his  men,  with  the  worn-out  and  dis- 
abled stock,  and  with  the  rest  proceeded  to  the 
Pawnee  village,  where  he  distributed  medals,' 
Spanish  flags,  etc.,  and  after  prejudicing   them 


ZEBULON  MONTGOMERY  PIKE  179 

against  Americans  and  drawing  the  Pawnee 
chiefs  as  closely  to  Spain  as  possible  returned 
to  Santa  Fe,  arriving  there  in  October.  This 
armed  invasion  of  the  acknowledged  territory 
of  the  United  States  and  deliberate  tampering 
with  the  Indian  tribes  probably  arose  from  the 
strained  relations  between  the  two  countries, 
which  nearly  resulted  in  hostilities  on  the  fron- 
tiers of  Texas  and  Orleans  territory  in  1806, 
when  the  local  forces  tacitly  agreed  to  regard 
the  Sabine  River  as  the  temporary  boundary. 

Pike  first  made  the  Osage  and  Kaws  smoke 
the  pipe  of  peace  and  then  held  a  council  with 
the  Pawnees.  These  latter  Indians,  strongly 
impressed  by  the  grand  show  made  by  the 
Spanish  cavalry,  regarded  with  doubt  the  small 
force  of  Americans.  What  Pike  lacked  in  num- 
bers and  display,  he  made  up  in  boldness  of  de- 
mands and  in  display  of  self-confidence.  He 
obliged  them  to  take  down  the  Spanish  flag  and 
hoist  the  American  ensign,  but  gave  them  per- 
mission to  retain  the  foreign  flag  for  protection 
if  the  Spaniards  should  return. 

The  chief,  however,  insisted  that  the  Ameri- 
cans must  turn  back,  and  said  that  he  would  re- 
sist any  advance  by  force  of  arms.  Captain 
Pike,  already  indignant  at  the  unauthorized  raid 
of  the  Spaniards  into  the  territory  of  the  United 
States,  listened  with  impatience  to  this  threat, 
and  answered  that  so  far  he  had  not  seen  any 
blood  on  his  path,  but  the  Pawnees  must  know 
that  the  young  warriors  of  their  great  American 
father  were  not   women,  to  be  turned  back  by 


180  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

words ;  that  they  were  men,  well  armed  and  pre- 
pared as  braves  to  sell  their  lives  dearly ;  that 
they  should  go  on,  and  if  the  Pawness  opposed, 
the  great  American  father  would  send  other  war- 
riors to  avenge  the  dead.  This  bold  talk  had 
its  effect,  and  the  onward  march  met  with  no 
active  opposition. 

Striking  southwest,  and  following  as  well  as  he 
could  the  broad  trail  left  by  the  Spaniards,  Pike 
reached  Arkansas,  where  he  stopped  long  enough 
to  build  canoes,  in  which  Lieutenant  Wilkinson 
with  five  soldiers  and  two  Osages  descended 
the  river.  This  officer  reached  the  post  of  Ar- 
kansas on  January  6,  1807,  after  a  journey 
marked  by  many  hardships,  but  no  great  dan- 
gers. 

Captain  Pike  and  Doctor  Robinson  pursued 
their  route  up  the  Arkansas  with  the  party,  now 
reduced  to  fourteen  soldiers  and  the  interpreter, 
Vasquez.  On  the  2d  of  November,  they  fell  in 
with  a  large  herd  of  wild  horses,  beautiful  bays, 
blacks,  and  grays,  whom  they  were  unable  to 
capture  even  with  their  fleetest  coursers.  Here 
also  the  buffalo  were  present  in  numbers  beyond 
imagination,  as  Pike  thought. 

The  15th  of  November  was  a  marked  day,  for 
Pike  records  that  "  at  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon I  thought  I  could  distinguish  a  mountain 
to  our  right,  which  appeared  like  a  small  blue 
cloud.  ...  In  half  an  hour  they  appeared  in 
full  view  before  us.  When  our  small  party  ar- 
rived on  the  hill  they  with  one  accord  gave  three 
cheers  to  the   Mexican  mountains."     The  peak, 


ZEBULON  MONTGOMERY  PIKE  181 

first  seen  by  Pike,  remained  in  view  from  that 
day  to  the  27th  of  January,  and  in  eternal  com- 
memoration of  the  hardships  and  dangers  of  the 
discoverer  in  that  journey  fittingly  bears  in  our 
day  the  name  of  Pike's  Peak. 

Here  they  first  strikingly  realized  the  trans- 
parency and  purity  of  the  mountain  air,  which 
to  the  eye  quite  annihilates  distance.  He  writes  : 
"  Marched  at  our  usual  hour,  pushed  with  an 
idea  of  arriving  at  the  mountains,  but  found  at 
night  no  visible  difference  in  their  appearance 
from  what  we  did  yesterday."  It  may  be  added 
that  eight  days'  march  brought  the  party  only  to 
the  base  of  the  mountains. 

On  November  22d  he  fell  in  with  an  unsuccess- 
ful war-party,  composed  of  sixty  Pawnees,  re- 
turning from  a  foray  on  the  Comanches.  The 
savages  at  first  acted  in  a  friendly  manner,  but 
receiving  some  small  presents,  demanded  ammu- 
nition, corn,  blankets,  kettles,  and  indeed  every- 
thing they  saw.  Being  refused  they  threw  away 
in  contempt  the  articles  given.  Pike  ordered 
the  horses  packed,  when  the  Pawnees  encircled 
the  small  party  and  commenced  stealing  every- 
thing they  could,  when  Pike  commanded  his 
men  to  stand  to  arms,  and  to  separate  themselves 
from  the  savages.  This  done  an  order  was  given 
to  kill  the  first  Indian  who  touched  any  piece  of 
baggage,  when  the  Pawnees,  realizing  that  fur- 
ther misconduct  meant  fight,  filed  off  and  allowed 
them  to  depart. 

The  party  was  now  at  the  present  city  of  Las 
Animas,  where  the  Arkansas  forks,  and  as   the 


182      EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

Spanish  troops  followed  the  main  stream  instead 
of  the  Purgatory,  Pike  took  the  same  route.  At 
the  Hei-fuano  he  decided  to  put  the  main  party  in 
camp  while  he  explored  the  surrounding  country, 
so  he  threw  up  a  small  breastwork,  opening  on  the 
river,  somewhat  to  the  east  of  the  present  city  of 
Pueblo.  Starting  to  ascend  the  north  fork  (the 
main  Arkansas)  to  the  high  point  of  a  blue 
mountain,  which  he  conceived  would  be  one 
day's  march,  it  took  two  days  to  reach  the  base 
and  more  than  another  day  to  reach  its  summit. 
He  records  that  his  men  had  no  stockings,  were 
clad  only  in  light  summer  overalls,  in  every  way 
unprovided  for  the  inclement  surroundings,  the 
snow  to  their  hips,  the  temperature  nine  degrees 
below  freezing,  while  in  forty-eight  hours  the 
four  men  had  for  food  only  one  partridge  and 
a  piece  of  deer's  rib,  but  adds  that  they  were 
amply  compensated  for  their  toil  and  hardships 
by  the  sublimity  of  the  view — an  unbounded 
prairie  overhung  with  clouds.  The  summit  of 
Grand  (Pike's)  Peak,  bare  of  vegetation,  snow- 
covered,  and  double  the  height  of  the  peak 
ascended,  he  thought  no  human  being  could  then 
have  ascended,  even  had  it  been  near  instead  of 
a  day's  march  to  its  base. 

The  December  journey  up  the  narrow,  cliff- 
bound  valley  of  the  Arkansas  is  a  continuous  rec- 
ord of  hardship  and  suffering.  The  horses  with 
difficulty  found  grazing  in  the  snow-covered  val- 
ley, while  the  fearless  ravens  lighting  on  the  men 
seized  meat  from  them,  and,  despite  the  kicking 
and   plunging  of   the  horses  swooped  down  on 


ZEBULON  MONTGOMERY  PIKE  183 

them  and  picked  their  sore  backs  till  they  bled. 
The  thermometer  fell  to  thirty-eight  degrees  be- 
low freezing,  while  the  badness  of  the  trail  obliged 
the  party  to  cross  and  recross  the  ice-filled  river, 
from  which  several  froze  their  feet  badly.  Had 
the  weather  continued  so  cold  "  some  of  the  men," 
says  Pike,  "  must  have  perished,  for  they  had  no 
winter  clothing;  I  wore  myself  cotton  overalls." 

Here  the  returning  Spanish  expeditionary  col- 
umn under  Malgares  had  turned  south,  skirting 
the  mountains  until  it  reached  a  practicable  pass 
through  the  Cimarron  range  to  Taos ;  but  the 
main  Spanish  trail  failing  in  the  snow-covered 
plain  Pike  pursued  a  side  trail  to  the  northwest, 
and  crossing  a  dividing  ridge  came  on  an  ice- 
covered  stream,  which,  to  his  surprise,  ran  to  the 
northeast,  and  proved,  as  he  thought,  to  be  the 
head-waters  of  the  Platte,  the  south  fork  rising 
in  the  South  Park,  where  he  then  was.  Here 
he  found  evidences  of  the  park  having  been 
lately  frequented  by  large  parties  of  Indians. 
Be3-ond  this  he  doubtless  crossed  into  the  Mid- 
dle Park,  and  saw  the  head-waters  of  the  Colorado 
Grande,  and  so  was  the  second  party  to  reach 
from  the  Atlantic  tide-water  the  sources  of 
streams  draining  into  the  Pacific. 

Pike  was  now  lost  in  the  maze  of  snow-covered 
mountains  under  most  adverse  circumstances,  as 
he  recites :  "  Eight  hundred  miles  from  the  fron- 
tiers of  our  country  ;  not  one  person  clothed  for 
the  winter,  many  without  blankets,  having  been 
obliged  to  cut  them  up  for  socks,  etc. ;  laying 
down  at  night  on  the  snow  or  wet  ground,  one 


184  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

side  burning,  while  the  other  was  pierced  with 
cold  ;  endeavoring  to  make  of  raw  buffalo-hide  a 
miserable  substitute  for  shoes;"  the  men  falling 
sick,  and,  finally,  the  country  so  broken  and  pre- 
cipitous, that  even  the  Indian  horse  could  nd 
carry  a  pack,  and  three  animals  were  lost  from 
falls  and  bruises. 

Pike  was  disconsolate,  but  not  discouraged. 
He  sent  ahead  the  interpreter  and  two  soldiers 
travelling  light  to  find  a  way  out,  while,  making 
five  small  sleds  to  carry  the  baggage  and  be 
dragged  by  the  men,  he  followed.  Struggling 
on,  nearly  perishing  from  cold,  and  almost  fam- 
ished for  food,  the  5th  of  January  found  Pike, 
greatly  to  his  mortification,  in  the  same  old  val- 
ley of  the  Arkansas,  in  sight  of  his  camp  of  De- 
cember loth.  Realizing  that  he  could  expect 
nothing  further  from  his  few  worn-out  horses, 
and  burning  with  mortification  at  his  egregious 
error  in  considering  the  Arkansas  as  the  Red, 
Pike  decided  to  try  on  foot  that  journey  which 
had  failed  on  horseback.  He  at  once  strength- 
ened the  small  fort,  left  therein  heavy  baggage, 
horses,  etc.,  with  the  interpreter  and  one  man, 
while  with  the  rest  he  started  to  cross  the  moun- 
tains with  packs  in  search  of  the  Red  River, 
where  he  intended  to  send  back  a  party  to  guide 
the  pack-train  to  it.  This  in  the  belief  that  the 
Red  River  had  its  sources  to  the  southwest,  in- 
stead of  in  its  true  location  hundreds  of  weary 
miles  to  the  southeast. 

Humboldt's  map  of  New  Spain,  compiled  from 
data  in  the  City  of  Mexico  in  1804,  plainly  indi- 


ZEBULON  MONTGOMERY  PIKE  185 

cates  that  the  Spanish  labored  under  the  same 
error  as  Pike,  they  also  thinking  the  sources  of 
the  Red  River  to  be  some  two  or  three  hundred 
miles  northwest  of  their  true  position.  This  map 
shows  that  although  the  main  Red  was  well 
known,  yet  the  head-waters  of  the  Canadian  were 
believed  to  be,  and  were  charted  as,  the  north- 
west extension  of  the  Red  to  within  fifty  miles  of 
the  place  where  Pike  was  later  arrested.  It  may 
be  added,  as  showing  the  extent  of  geographical 
knowledge  in  New  Spain  at  that  time,  that  the 
upper  Arkansas  was  known  under  the  name  Rio 
Napestle,  although  its  connection  with  the  lower 
Arkansas  was  only  suspected.  The  Pecos,  Colo- 
rado, Trinity,  and  Sabine  Rivers  were  also  known, 
but  the  Llano  Estacado,  of  Texas,  and  the  plains  of 
Colorado,  Indian  Territory,  and  Kansas,  though 
they  had  been  crossed  here  and  there  prior  to 

1805,  were  practically  unknown  lands,  given  over 
to  the  buffalo  and  savages,  who  were  popularly 
and  correctly  associated  with  them. 

Impressed  with  the  belief  that  he  finally  was 
on  the  right  track,  Captain  Pike,  on  January  14, 

1806,  started  on  the  eventful  journey  that  was  to 
carry  him  into  New  Spain,  and  lead  him  into 
the  hands  of  the  Spaniards  he  was  charged  to 
avoid.  They  marched  in  heavy  order,  every  one 
— man,  doctor,  and  commander — carrying  forty- 
five  pounds  of  regular  baggage,  besides  arms, 
ammunition,  and  such  food  as  he  thought  proper; 
the  average  burden  being  seventy  pounds  per 
man,  to  be  carried  over  a  snow-covered  and 
mountainous  country. 


186      EXPLORERS  AND    TRAVELLERS 

The  general  direction  tollowed  was  to  the 
southwest,  and  fifty  miles  were  made  good  in 
three  days.  The  fourth  day  all  wet  their  feet 
crossing  a  stream,  and  before  fire  could  be  had 
no  less  than  nine  of  the  men,  including  the  two 
hunters,  had  their  feet  badly  frozen  ;  the  temper- 
ature fell  that  night  to  forty-three  degrees  below 
the  freezing  point,  while  the  lack  of  game  left 
them  without  food.  The  next  morning  two  men 
went  hunting  in  one  direction,  while  Pike  and 
the  doctor  went  in  another.  The  latter  two 
wounded  a  buffalo  three  times,  but  he  escaped, 
when,  says  Pike :  "  We  concluded  it  was  useless 
to  go  home  to  add  to  the  general  gloom,  and 
went  among  the  rocks,  where  we  encamped 
and  sat  up  all  night ;  from  intense  cold  it  was 
impossible  to  sleep,  hungry  and  without  cover." 
The  next  morning  they  struck  a  herd  and 
wounded  several  buffalo,  all  of  which  escaped. 
"  B}-  this  time,"  continues  Pike,  "  I  had  become 
extremel}'  weak  and  faint,  being  the  fourth  day 
since  we  had  received  sustenance.  We  were  in- 
clining our  course  to  a  point  of  woods,  deter- 
mined to  remain  absent  and  die  by  ourselves 
rather  than  to  return  to  our  camp  and  behold 
the  misery  of  our  poor  lads,  when  we  discovered 
a  gang  of  buffalo."  Fortunately  they  killed  one 
and  returned  at  once  to  camp  with  a  heavy  load 
of  meat,  Pike  arriving  in  such  a  state  of  exhaus- 
tion that  he  almost  fell  fainting  as  he  dropped 
his  burden.  "  The  men,"  he  adds,  had  "  not  a 
frown,  nor  a  desponding  eye — yet  not  a  mouth- 
ful had  they  ate  for  four  days."     It  was  found 


ZEBULON  MONTGOMERY  PIKE  187 

that  two  soldiers  were  so  badly  frozen  that  it 
was  impossible  for  them  to  proceed,  and  indeed 
it  was  probable  that  one  would  lose  his  feet.  To 
remain  was  apparent  death  for  all,  so  Pike  de- 
cided to  march,  and  left  the  two  men,  John 
Sparks  and  Thomas  Dougherty,  provided  with 
ammunition,  and  given  all  the  buffalo  meat  ex- 
cept one  meal  for  the  marching  column.  It  was 
like  parting  with  the  dying.  Pike  bade  them 
face  their  possible  fate  with  soldierly  fortitude, 
assured  them  that  relief  would  be  sent  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  then  they  parted,  as  we  may  well 
believe  such  comrades  would,  with  tears — more, 
doubtless,  from  those  who  marched  than  from 
those  who  remained  behind. 

The  main  party  under  Pike  struggled  on  over 
the  barren,  snow-covered  mountains,  and  after 
nine  days,  two  of  which  without  food,  a  march  of 
ninety-five  miles  (from  the  vicinity  of  Saguache 
to  the  neighborhood  of  Del  Norte)  brought  them 
quite  exhausted  to  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande, 
which  was,  however,  hailed  as  the  long-expected 
Red  River. 

Descending  the  stream  some  distance,  Pike 
established  a  picketed  stockade,  surrounded  it 
by  a  water  ditch  and  made  it  quite  impregnable 
to  any  ordinary  attack.  On  February  7th  Cor- 
poral Jackson  and  four  men  were  sent  back 
across  the  mountain,  to  bring  in  the  baggage 
and  see  if  the  frozen  men  were  yet  able  to  travel. 
The  same  day  Dr.  Robinson  left  the  expedition 
to  visit  Santa  Fe,  (jstensibly  carrying  the  papers 
in  a  Spanish  claim,  but  in  reality  to  gain  a  knowl- 


188  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

edge  of  the  country,  the  prospects  of  trade,  the 
military  force,  etc. — in  short,  as  a  secret  agent. 

While  Pike  was  strengthening  his  position  and 
securing  game,  the  party  returned  with  word 
that  the  frozen  men  could  not  yet  travel,  and 
possibly  might  be  crippled  for  life.  Volunteers 
were  called  for,  as  the  only  method  now  was  to 
send  to  the  fort  in  the  forks  of  the  Arkansas, 
(near  Pueblo)  where  the  recuperated  horses  and 
the  rear-guard  were  available  to  bring  over  the 
snow-clad  mountains  the  helpless  soldiers. 

Regarding  this  last  journey  Pike  writes:  "I 
must  here  remark  the  effect  of  habit,  discipline, 
and  example  in  two  soldiers  (Sergeant  William  E. 
Meek  and  private  Theodore  Miller).  Soliciting  a 
command  of  more  than  one  hundred  and  eighty 
miles  over  two  great  ridges  of  mountains  covered 
with  snow,  inhabited  by  bands  of  unknown  sav- 
ages, these  men  volunteered  it,  with  others,  and 
were  chosen  ;  for  which  they  thought  themselves 
highly  honored." 

The  steadfast  endurance  and  unfailing  forti- 
tude which  enabled  Pike's  men  to  withstand  and 
overcome  the  horrors  and  hardships  of  famine, 
frost,  and  fatigue,  form  but  a  single  page  of  the 
annals  of  our  army.  Rarely  has  the  American 
soldier  failed,  in  war  or  peace,  for  military  or 
civic  ends,  to  give  to  the  accomplishment  of  any 
important  trust  his  utmost  endeavor,  subordinat- 
ing thereto  comfort,  health,  and  life,  lavishing 
thereon  resources  of  helpfulness  which  have  so 
often  crowned  with  success  the  most  hopeless  of 
enterprises.     If  the  American  has  individuality, 


ZEBULON  MONTGOMERY  PIKE  180 

assertiveness,  and  self-reliance,  he  has  also,  in  its 
good  time  and  place,  a  spirit  of  obedience, 
subordination,  and  solidarity  which  make  him 
the  typical  soldier. 

On  February  i6th.  Pike  was  visited  by  a  Spanish 
dragoon  and  an  Indian  ;  and  some  ten  days  later 
by  a  Spanish  officer  and  fifty  dragoons,  by  whom 
he  was  escorted  to  Santa  Fe,  where  he  was  ex- 
amined by  the  Spanish  Governor,  Don  Allen- 
caster,  on  March  3d.  Pike  had  been  informed  by 
the  Spanish  lieutenant  that  he  would  be  con- 
ducted to  the  head-waters  of  the  Red  River,  but 
at  Santa  Fe  he  learned  that  there  was  no  inten- 
tion of  permitting  a  geographical  exploration  of 
these  unknown  regions.  Pike  was  astonished  to 
find  in  Santa  Fe  an  American,  a  Kentuckian, 
named  James  Pursley,  from  Bairdstown,  who 
had  made  a  hunting  trip  to  the  head  of  the  Osage 
in  1802,  and  in  1803  made  a  journe}^  up  the  Mis- 
souri with  a  French  trader.  Sent  on  a  trading 
trip  on  the  plains  with  a  roving  band  of  Kioways, 
the  hunting  party  was  attacked  and  driven  by 
the  Sioux  into  the  parks  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, at  the  head  of  the  Platte  and  Arkansas, 
where  Pike  had  seen  traces  of  the  band  and  their 
stock.  From  this  point  the  Indians  sent  Pursley 
and  two  of  their  number  to  Santa  Fe  to  trade. 
Here  they  arrived  in  June,  1805,  eight  months 
before  Pike,  and  Pursley  decided  to  remain. 

Governor  AUencaster  decided  to  send  Pike 
and  his  party  to  Chihuahua.  Accompanied  by 
Robins(jn,  who  rejoined  him  at  Albuquerque, 
Pike  passed  down  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande, 


190  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

through  El  Paso,  under  escort  of  the  gallant  and 
courteous  Malgares,  and  was  taken  before  Sal- 
cedo,  the  Commandant-General  of  Chihuahua,  on 
April  2d.  Leaving  here  late  that  month,  still 
under  escort,  he  crossed  the  Del  Norte  on  June 
I  St,  passed  through  San  Antonio,  and  on  July  ist 
was  within  the  United  States,  at  Natchitoches, 
when  he  exclaimed  "  Language  cannot  express 
the  gayety  of  my  heart,  when  I  once  more  be- 
held the  standard  of  my  country ! " 

It  is  astonishing  what  an  amount  of  valuable 
and  accurate  information  concerning  New  Spain 
was  collected  by  Captain  Pike  during  his  journey 
through  the  country.  If  he  had  been  permitted 
to  return  by  the  way  of  Red  River  his  stock 
of  knowledge  would  have  been  vastly  inferior. 
His  journey  was  tedious,  unpleasant,  and  humil- 
iating, but  Pike  knew  how  to  make  the  best  of 
the  situation,  and  in  so  doing  justified  the  con- 
fidence of  his  superiors  in  sending  him  on  so 
dangerous  and  important  a  service. 

His  field  notes  in  New  Spain  were  made  by 
Pike  with  great  difficulty,  as  the  Governor  gave 
orders  to  Malgares  not  to  permit  the  making  of 
astronomical  observations  nor  the  taking  of  notes. 
Pike  was  determined,  however,  to  make  the  best 
of  his  opportunities,  and  so  recorded  his  obser- 
vations while  making  pretext  to  halt,  and  kept 
his  boy  as  a  vedette  while  writing.  Later  he 
feared  the  loss  of  such  notes  as  he  had  already 
made,  when,  he  continues :  "  Finding  that  a  new 
species  of  discipline  had  taken  place,  and  that  the 
suspicions  of   my  friend    Malgares   were   much 


ZEBULON  MONTGOMERY  PIKE  191 

more  acute  than  ever,  I  conceived  it  necessary 
to  take  some  steps  to  secure  the  notes  I  had 
taken,  which  were  clandestinely  acquired.  In  the 
night  I  arose,  and,  after  making  all  my  men 
clean  their  pieces  well,  I  took  my  small  books 
and  rolled  them  up  in  small  rolls,  and  tore  a  fine 
shirt  to  pieces,  and  wrapped  it  around  the 
papers  and  put  them  down  in  the  barrels  of  the 
guns,  until  we  just  left  room  for  the  tompions, 
which  were  then  carefully  put  in ;  the  remainder 
we  secured  about  our  bodies  under  our  shirts. 
This  was  effected  without  discovery  and  with- 
out suspicions." 

Pike  draws  a  lively  and  striking  picture  of  the 
manners,  morals,  customs,  and  politics  of  the 
people  of  New  Spain,  whom  he  characterized  as 
surprisingly  brave,  and  in  hospitality,  generosity, 
and  sobriety  unsurpassed  by  any  other  people, 
but  as  lacking  in  patriotism,  enterprise,  and  in- 
dependence of  soul. 

The  subsequent  career  of  Captain  Pike  was 
short  and  brilliant.  He  received  the  thanks  of  the 
Government,  had  his  zeal,  perseverance,  and  in- 
telligence formally  recognized  by  a  committee  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  rose  to  be  major, 
lieutenant-colonel,  and  deputy-quartermaster-gen- 
eral in  rapid  succession ;  in  the  reorganization  of 
the  army  in  1812  was  made  colonel,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  was  appointed  brigadier-general  a 
few  weeks  before  his  death,  at  the  capture  of 
York  (Toronto),  Canada. 

The  day  before  he  left  for  the  attack  on  York 
(Toronto),  General  Pike  wrote  to  his  father :  "  I 


192  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

embark  to-morrow  in  the  fleet  at  Sackett's  Har- 
bor at  the  head  of  1,500  choice  troops,  on  a 
secret  expedition.  Should  I  be  the  happy  mor- 
tal destined  to  turn  the  scale  of  war,  will  you 
not  rejoice,  oh  my  father?  May  Heaven  be  propi- 
tious, and  smile  on  the  cause  of  my  country.  But 
if  I  am  destined  to  fall,  may  my  fall  be  like 
Wolfe's — to  sleep  in  the  arms  of  victory."  His 
wish  was  prophetic. 

The  orders  issued  to  his  troops  indicate  the 
high  professional  honor  which  ever  character- 
ized Pike's  life.  In  part  they  ran  thus :  "  It  is 
expected  that  every  corps  will  be  mindful  of  the 
honor  of  American  arms  and  the  disgraces 
which  have  recently  tarnished  our  arms,  and 
endeavor,  by  a  cool  and  determined  discharge 
of  their  duty,  to  support  the  one  and  wipe  out 
the  other.  The  property  of  the  unoffending  citi- 
zens of  Canada,"  he  continues,  "  must  be  held 
sacred  ;  and  any  soldier  who  shall  so  far  neglect 
the  honor  of  his  profession  as  to  be  guilty  of 
plundering  the  inhabitants,  shall,  if  convicted, 
be  punished  with  death.  Courage  and  bravery 
in  the  field  do  not  more  distinguish  the  soldier 
than  humanity  after  victory  ;  and  whatever  ex- 
amples the  savage  allies  of  our  enemies  may 
have  given  us,  the  general  confidently  hopes  that 
the  blood  of  an  unresisting  enemy  will  never 
stain  the  weapon  of  any  soldier  of  his  column." 

Owing  to  the  sickness  of  General  Dearborn, 
Pike  took  command  of  the  land  forces,  and  on 
April  27,  1813,  carried  the  outer  battery  by  as- 
sault, and  having  silenced  the  fire  of  the  main 


ZEBULOX  MONTGOMERY  PIKE  193 

work  was  awaiting  a  white  flag  when  the  main 
magazine  was  exploded.  Pike,  who  had  a  minute 
before  assisted  in  making  a  wounded  soldier 
comfortable,  was  fatally  injured,  but  his  martial 
spirit  impelled  him  to  yet  encourage  his  troops. 
A  soldier  to  the  last,  he  smiled  as  the  standard 
of  the  enemy  was  handed  to  him,  and,  putting 
it  under  his  head,  died  serenely. 

Laboring  under  the  disadvantage  of  insuffi- 
cient instruction  in  youth,  Pike  supplemented  his 
deficiencies  by  assiduous  application,  and  his 
journal  shows  him  studying  French  and  other 
languages  in  the  interludes  of  his  desperate  jour- 
neys in  the  Northwest  and  Southwest.  Simple- 
minded  and  warm-hearted,  he  won  the  devotion 
of  his  men  without  relaxing  soldierly  habits  or 
impairing  discipline.  He  w^as  intelligent,  inde- 
fatigable, brave,  capable  of  great  endurance,  fer- 
tile in  expedients  and  never  distrustful  of  his 
own  capabilities  or  of  the  ultimate  success  of  his 
undertakings.  His  early  death  precluded  judg- 
ment as  to  his  qualities  as  a  general,  but  certain- 
ly he  had  the  power  of  origination,  organization, 
and  administration  which  are  essentials  to  mili- 
tary success. 

It  should  be  recorded  of  his  explorations  that, 
taking  into  consideration  his  small  force,  and  al- 
most inadequate  means,  no  other  man  ever  con- 
tributed to  the  geographical  knowledge  of  the 
United  States  an  amount  comparable  to  that 
which  the  world  owes  to  the  heroic  efforts  and 
indomitable  perseverance  of  Zebulon  Mont- 
gomery Pike. 
13 


VII. 

CHARLES   WILKES, 

The  Discoverer  of  the  Antarctic  Con- 
tinent. 

On  the  colored  and  beautifully  engraved  map 
of  the  world  of  Gulielmus  Blaeuw  (Amsterdam, 
1642)  are  two  side  maps,  one  of  the  Arctic,  the 
other  of  the  Antarctic,  Circle.  The  latter  repre- 
sents not  only  the  entire  Antarctic  Circle  as 
unbroken  land,  but  also  extends  this  great  sup- 
posititious continent  some  distance  to  the  north- 
ward of  the  sixtieth  parallel  and  gives  to  it 
the  name  Magallanica  Terra  Australis  Incognita. 
This  mythical  Magellanic  continent  held  its 
place,  a  subject  of  mystery  and  interest  to  every 
geographer,  until  Captain  James  Cook,  the 
greatest  of  navigators,  either  ancient  or  mod- 
ern, attempted  its  definition  or  solution.  His 
success  here  as  elsewhere  was  marvellous,  and 
on  January  17,  1773,  in  the  Resolution,  first  of 
all  men,  Cook  penetrated  the  ice-bound  wastes  of 
the  Antarctic  regions,  reaching  6^°  15'  S.,  on  the 
fortieth  meridian  E.  In  the  following  summer 
he  completed  his  circumnavigation  of  Southern 
seas  in  high  latitudes,  and  penetrating  the  Ant- 
arctic Circle   at  three   widely  separated  points, 


^"^'"^'^• 


-::m 


f: 


^U 


#; 


Charles  Wilkes. 
(From  a  portrait  by  '1'.  Sully.) 


CHARLES   WILKES  195 

attained,  in  January,  1774,  in  117°  W.,  the  ex- 
traordinary high  southern  latitude  of  71°  10'. 
Cook  thus  "  put  an  end  to  the  search  for  a  south- 
ern continent,  which  had  engrossed  the  attention 
of  maritime  nations  for  two  centuries." 

Cook's  discoveries  led  to  erroneous  conclu- 
sions as  to  the  physical  constituents  of  the  Ant- 
arctic regions.  Although  he  had  reached  the 
Great  Southern  Circle  at  four  different  places, 
and  nearly  attained  it  at  the  fifth,  yet  no  land 
therein,  either  island  or  continent,  met  his  eager 
gaze  ;  instead  there  everywhere  met  his  view  a 
close  pack  of  ice-floes  of  enormous  height  and 
extent,  with  a  few  wind-caused  breaks  or  chan- 
nels. Hence  many  geographers  concluded  that 
the  Antarctic  regions  were  ice-covered  seas, 
either  totally  or  in  greater  part.  To-day,  in  the 
light  of  modern  science  and  discovery,  the  opin- 
ion prevails  that  there  is  an  extensive  ice-clad 
Antarctic  land,  possibly  rising  to  the  dignity  of 
a  continent;  and  toward  this  conclusion  no  ex- 
plorations have  more  directly  and  largely  con- 
tributed than  those  of  the  American  sailor  and 
explorer,  Charles  Wilkes,  of  the  United  States 
Navy. 

The  first  Antarctic  land  ever  discovered  was  by 
an  American  sealer,  Captain  Palmer,  from  Con- 
necticut. Bellingshausen,  of  the  Russian  Impe- 
rial Navy,  in  his  voyage  of  1821,  that  resulted  in 
the  discovery  of  the  islands  of  Peter  and  Alex- 
ander, on  the  sixty-ninth  parallel,  fell  in  with  the 
Yankee  skipper  immediately  after  he  had  discov- 
ered the  land,  to  which    Bellingshausen   justly 


196  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

attached  Palmer's  name.  Palmer's  Land,  ex- 
tended into  the  Antarctic  Circle  by  Biscoe's  dis- 
coveries of  1832,  merges  into  Graham  Land  of 
the  latter  explorer. 

Probably  incited  by  these  discoveries,  France 
sent  forth  an  Antarctic  expedition,  under  Dumont 
d'Irville,  in  1837,  and  England,  under  Sir  James 
Clark  Ross,  the  discoverer  of  the  northern  mag- 
netic pole,  in  1839.  Simultaneously  with  these 
expeditions  was  organized  one  by  the  United 
States,  for  which  the  exceedingly  liberal  appro- 
priation of  $300,000  was  made. 

This  last  expedition  was  authorized  by  the  act 
of  Congress  of  May  18,  1836,  "  for  the  purpose  of 
exploring  and  surveying  in  the  Great  Southern 
Ocean  in  the  important  interests  of  our  com- 
merce embarked  in  the  whale  fisheries  and  other 
adventures  in  that  ocean,  as  well  as  to  deter- 
mine the  existence  of  all  doubtful  islands  and 
shoals,  and  to  discover  and  accurately  fix  the 
position  of  those  which  lie  in  or  near  the  track 
pursued  by  our  merchant  vessels  in  that  quar- 
ter." This  expedition,  the  first  of  its  character 
undertaken  by  the  United  States,  grew  out  of 
the  vast  capital  employed  in  whaling  and  trade. 

The  expedition  was  first  organized  under 
Commodore  Thomas  Ap  Catesby  Jones,  United 
State  Navy,  but  finally  the  President  of  the 
United  States  appointed  Lieutenant  Charles 
Wilkes  to  command  the  squadron,  and  he  was 
formally  assigned  to  this  duty  under  instructions 
of  Secretary  Paulding,  dated  August  11,  1838. 

Charles  Wilkes  was  born  in  New  York  City, 


CHARLES   WILKES  197 

April  3,  1798,  and  entering  the  United  States 
Navy  as  a  midshipman  at  the  age  of  nineteen 
was  promoted  to  be  lieutenant  in  1826,  He  had 
long  served  in  the  department  of  charts  and  in- 
struments and  was  especially  qualified  for  the 
proposed  astronomical  and  surveying  work  con- 
nected with  the  expedition. 

An  anomalous  feature  of  the  expedition  was 
the  acceptance  of  appointment  as  second  in 
command  by  Lieutenant  William  L.  Hudson, 
whose  naval  rank  was  above  that  of  Wilkes's. 
The  squadron,  then  consisting  of  the  sloops  of 
war  Vincennes  and  Peacock,  the  store-ship  Re- 
lief, the  brig  Porpoise,  and  tenders  Sea  Gull 
and  Flying  Fish,  left  Norfolk,  Va.,  August  13, 
1838.  xA.ssociated  with  Wilkes  were  a  num- 
ber of  lieutenants  destined  to  later  distin- 
guish themselves  in  their  country's  service, 
among  whom  may  be  mentioned  T.  P.  Craven, 
James  Alden,  S.  P.  Lee,  G.  F.  Emmons,  and  A. 
L.  Case,  all  of  whom  afterward  rose  to  be  rear 
admirals,  and  H.  J.  Harstene,  later  associated 
with  the  relief  of  Kane.  Under  its  instructions 
the  expedition  was  to  visit  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Cape 
Frio,  the  Rio  Negro,  Terra  del  Fuego,  the  Ant- 
arctic Ocean  southward  of  Powell's  group  to 
Cook's  farthest,  Valparaiso,  the  Navigators' 
Group,  the  Feejee  Islands,  the  Antarctic  regions 
south  of  Van  Dieman's  Land,  whence  it  would 
return  home  by  way  of  the  Sandwich  Isl- 
ands, San  Francisco,  Singapore,  and  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope.  No  ship  had  steam-power, 
nor    was    any    vessel    of    the    squadron    fitted 


198  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

with  appliances  for  protection  in  ice  navi- 
gation ;  indeed,  the  squadron  was  a  makeshift, 
ill-suited  for  so  long  and  dangerous  a  voyage. 
Eventually  the  Sea  Gull  was  lost  in  a  gale  off  the 
coast  of  Chili,  the  Flying  Fish  proved  of  little 
use,  and  the  extreme  slowness  of  the  Relief  de- 
layed the  voyage. 

Wilkes  sailed  for  the  Antarctic  regions  from 
Orange  Bay,  near  Cape  Horn,  on  February  24, 
1839,  but  owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  summer 
accomplished  little,  and  spent  thirty-six  days  in 
attempting  to  visit  Palmer's  Land,  which  was 
only  sighted. 

A  second  attempt  at  Antarctic  exploration  was 
made  by  Wilkes  from  Sidney,  N.  S.  W.,  which 
was  left  December  21,  1839.  ^  compact  barrier 
of  field  ice,  with  frequent  large  bergs,  was  fallen 
in  with  on  January  11,  1840,  and  from  this  time 
on  the  ships  were  often  in  imminent  danger  owing 
to  continuous  ice,  impenetrable  fog,  bad  weather, 
and  occasional  embayment  of  the  vessels  in  the 
ice-pack.  It  is  scarcely  needful  to  enter  into  the 
details  of  Wilkes's  perilous  voyage  from  longitude 
95°  E.  to  155°  E.  and  in  latitudes  ranging  from 
th'e  Antarctic  Circle  to  the  neighborhood  of  the 
seventieth  parallel.  It  may  be  mentioned,  how- 
ever, that  the  Peacock  narrowly  escaped  entire 
destruction  by  collision  with  a  heavy  iceberg, 
which  seriously  injured  the  ship.  Fortunately 
she  cleared  the  berg  in  time  to  escape  crushing 
by  the  falling  of  detached  ice  masses  from  the 
overhanging  flloe  berg.  Heavy  gales  and  the  bad 
sanitary  condition  of  the  ship  caused  the  medical 


CHARLES   WILKES 


199 


officers  of  the  Vincennes  to  specially  report  to 
Wilkes  that  such  continued  exposure  would  so 
weaken  the  crew  by  sickness  as  to  hazard  the  ship 
and  the  lives  of  all  on  board.  Wilkes,  however, 
had  sighted  the  long-looked-for  Antarctic  land, 
and,  disregarding  the  warning,  followed  the  coast- 
line eastward,  keeping  his  squadron  as  near  it  as 
the  conditions  would  permit.     The  land  was  a 


The  Ice-Barrier, 
(From  a  sketch  by  CapUin  Wilkes. J 

series  of  lofty  mountain  ranges,  often  snow- 
capped, frequently  broken  by  indentations,  and, 
worst  of  all,  shut  out  from  immediate  approach 
by  an  almost  continuous  ice-barrier,  which  in  its 
extent,  height,  and  appearance  struck  every  be- 
holder with  admiration  not  unmixed  with  appre- 
hension. This  barrier  rose  perpendicularly  from 
the  deep  sea  to  a  height  varying  from  one  hun- 
dred to  two  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the 


200  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

water,  which  gave  no  bottom  in  soundings  rang- 
ing from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred 
and  fifty  fathoms.  Despite  this  great  depth  of 
water,  the  perpendicular  icy  barrier  was  evident- 
ly grounded,  thus  indicating  ice  of  a  thickness 
of  about  one  thousand  feet. 

Regarding  the  land  discovered  the  first  reliable 
observations  were  those  of  January  i6th,  when 
land  was  seen  by  Lieutenant  Ringgold,  of  the  Por- 
poise, and  by  Midshipmen  Eld  and  Reynolds,  of 
the  Peacock,  their  statement  running  as  follows  : 
"  The  mountains  could  be  distinctly  seen  stretch- 
ing over  the  ice  to  the  southwest."  On  the  19th 
land  was  again  visible  from  the  Vincennes,  Alden 
reporting  it  twice  to  Wilkes,  and  on  the  same  day 
high  land  was  seen  by  all  the  crew  of  the  Pea- 
cock. The  ships  were  then  in  longitude  154°  E., 
66°  20'  S.,  practically  on  the  Antarctic  Circle. 
On  February  2d  high  bold  land  bordered  by  the 
ice-barrier  was  visible  to  the  Vincennes  and  Por- 
poise in  longitude  137°  E.,  latitude  66°  12'  S. 
Five  da3^s  later  the  westerly  trend  of  the  land  as 
previously  seen  was  confirmed  by  a  well-defined 
outline  of  high  land  rising  above  the  perpendic- 
ular ice-barrier,  the  Vincennes  being  in  longi- 
tude 132°  E.,  latitude  66°  8'  S.  On  February 
9th,  in  longitude  123°  E.,  latitude  65°  27'  S.,  the 
land  is  spoken  of  as  being  indistinct.  At  8  a.m. 
of  the  1 2th  land  was  reported  again,  in  longitude 
112°  E.,  latitude  64°  57'  S.,  the  land  being  in  about 
65°  20'  S.  and  trending  nearly  east  and  west. 

Wilkes  says  of  the  land  and  of  his  efforts  to 
reach  it :  "The  solid  barrier  prevented  our  further 


CHARLES   WILKES  201 

progress.  Land  was  now  distinctly  seen  from 
eighteen  to  twenty  miles  distant,  bearing  from 
S.S.E.  to  S.W.,  a  lofty  mountain  range  covered 
with  snow,  though  showing  many  ridges  and  in- 
dentations." Two  days  later  he  writes:  "The 
14th  was  remarkabl}'-  clear  and  the  land  very  dis- 
tinct. By  measurement  we  made  the  extent  of 
coast  of  the  Antarctic  continent  then  in  sight 
seventy-five  miles  and  by  approximate  measure- 
ment three  thousand  feet  high." 

In  longitude  97°  E.,  Wilkes  found  the  ice  trend- 
ing to  the  northward,  well  out  of  the  Antarctic 
Circle,  and  after  following  it  near  to  where  Cook 
was  stopped  in  February,  1773,  Wilkes  took  his 
course  for  Sydney,  where  he  learned  that  an  Eng- 
lish sealer.  Captain  Balleny,  had  discovered  land 
in  longitude  165°  E.,  south  of  and  near  the  point 
where  Wilkes  found  the  ice-barrier,  and  had  at- 
tained a  latitude  of  69°  S.  in  longitude  172°  E. 
Here  Wilkes,  hearing  of  the  prospective  arrival 
of  Sir  James  Clark  Ross,  forwarded  for  his  benefit 
a  tracing  of  the  chart  prepared  as  the  American 
squadron  had  passed  along  the  barrier,  supple- 
mented by  the  discoveries  of  Balleny.  Ross 
publishes  a  copy  of  this  chart  in  his  "  Voyage  to 
the  Southern  Seas,"  together  with  Wilkes's  letter, 
giving  information  not  only  as  to  discoveries,  but 
also  as  to  winds,  currents,  and  the  probable  posi- 
tion of  the  magnetic  pole. 

Most  unfortunately,  on  the  chart  transmitted 
to  Ross  by  Wilkes,  he  entered,  without  distin- 
guishing marks,  land  between  longitudes  160°  E. 
and  165°  E.,  near  the  sixty-sixth  paralled,  which 


202  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

should  have  been  marked  with  the  legend  of 
"  probable  land,"  it  being  most  probably  the  sup- 
posed land  of  Lieutenant  Ringgold,  of  the  Vin- 
cennes,  who  on  January  13,  1840,  in  longitude, 
163°  E.,  latitude  65°  8'  S.,  to  use  Ringgold's  own 
words,  "  thought  he  could  discern  to  the  south- 
east something  like  distant  mountains."  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  Ross  found  no  bottom  at  six  hun- 


^^' 


The  Vincennes  in  a  Storm. 
(From  a  sketch  by  Captain  Wilkes  ) 

dred  fathoms  over  this  charted  land,  and  natural- 
ly enough  pointed  out  that  he  had  sailed  over  a 
clear  ocean  where  Wilkes  had  laid  down  land. 
This  lack  of  caution  on  the  part  of  Wilkes  led  to 
an  acrimonious  controversy  which  had  no  good 
end,  but  tended  to  discredit  among  the  ill-in- 
formed the  discoveries  of  land  actually  made  by 
the  expedition.  Ross,  evidently  somewhat  net- 
tled, had  the  questionable  taste  to  omit  from  his 


CHARLES   WILKES  203 

general  South  Polar  Chart  all  of  Wilkes's  dis- 
coveries. This  course,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to 
say,  has  not  commended  itself  to  the  best  geog- 
raphers, for  in  the  standard  atlas  of  Stieler,  is- 
sued by  the  famous  publishing  house  of  Justus 
Purthes,  the  discoveries  claimed  by  Wilkes  are 
entered,  with  the  legend,  "  Wilkes  Land,"  ex- 
tending from  longitude  95°  E.  to  160°  E.  It  is 
gratifying,  moreover,  to  note  as  an  evidence  of 
the  impartial  justice  of  the  Royal  Geographical 
Society,  that  it  acknowledged  the  accuracy  and 
extent  of  the  discoveries  of  Wilkes  and  of  the 
value  of  his  detailed  narrative  of  the  expedition, 
and  therefor  that  society  awarded  to  him  its 
founders'  medal. 

Ross,  it  may  be  added,  reached  the  highest 
known  latitude  in  the  Antarctic  Circle,  78°  11'  S., 
where  he  discovered  Victoria  Land,  tracing  its 
coast  from  70°  to  79°  S.  latitude,  along  the  me- 
ridian of  161°  W.,  which  proved  to  be  a  bold, 
mountainous  country,  practically  inaccessible 
and  having  within  its  limits  an  active  volcano 
about  twelve  thousand  feet  high — Mount  Ere- 
bus. 

On  the  subject  of  an  Antarctic  continent  Ross 
says :  "  There  do  not  appear  to  me  sufficient 
grounds  to  justify  the  assertion  that  the  various 
patches  of  land  recently  discovered  by  the  Ameri- 
can, French,  and  English  navigators  on  the  verge 
of  the  Antarctic  Circle  unite  to  form  a  great 
southern  continent." 

The  investigations  and  deductions  of  a  great 
scientist,    the    late    W.    B.    Carpenter,   give  the 


204  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

latest  word  on  this  subject.  Carpenter  says: 
"  The  Antarctic  ice-barrier  is  to  be  regarded 
as  the  margin  of  a  polar  ice-cap  whose  thick- 
ness at  its  edge  is  probably  about  two  thousand 
feet.  .  .  .  These  vast  masses  have  originally 
formed  part  of  a  great  ice-sheet  formed  by  the 
cumulative  pressure  of  successive  snow-falls 
over  a  land  area,"  etc.  Elsewhere  he  adds : 
"  That  the  circumpolar  area  is  chiefly  land  and 
not  water  seems  to  be  farther  indicated,"  etc. 
The  periphery  of  the  ice-cap  is  estimated  to 
be  about  ten  thousand  miles. 

Thus  the  ordinary  man  may  safel}^  believe  in 
the  existence  of  an  Antarctic  continent  whose 
outer  margins  were  first  skirted  and  recognized 
as  part  of  a  great  land  by  Charles  Wilkes,  of  the 
United  States  Navy. 

After  quitting  the  Southern  seas,  Wilkes  voy- 
aged through  the  Pacific  Ocean,  in  accordance 
with  his  original  orders.  In  the  Feejee  group, 
however,  his  experiences  were  most  unfortunate. 
The  pillaging  of  a  grounded  cutter  by  the  na- 
tives resulted  in  Wilkes  destroying  one  of  their 
villages  and  capturing  several  of  their  chiefs, 
causing  ill-feeling  which  a  few  days  later  culmi- 
nated in  an  attack  on  a  boat's  crew,  whereby 
Lieutenant  Underwood  and  Midshipman  Henry 
were  killed  by  the  natives  and  others  of  the 
party  were  severely  wounded.  An  attack  of  a 
retaliatory  character  was  made  by  Wilkes,  who 
destroyed  two  native  towns,  laid  waste  planta- 
tions, killed  about  sixty  of  the  savages  and 
wounded  many  others. 


r- 


206  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

At  every  port  Wilkes  and  his  staff  of  officers 
and  scientific  assistants  were  most  assiduous 
in  making  surveys  and  in  acquiring  knowledge 
of  the  countries  and  their  inhabitants.  Even 
the  most  prolonged  voyage  must  end,  and  with 
pleasure  officers  and  men  saw  again  the  shores 
of  their  country,  where  Wilkes  landed,  at  New 
York,  June  ib,  1842,  after  four  years  of  absence. 

As  might  be  expected,  there  were  officers  of 
the  squadron  who  felt  that  their  merits  had  not 
been  properly  recognized  by  Lieutenant  Wilkes 
during  this  voyage  of  four  years,  and  in  conse- 
quence charges  of  a  voluminous  character  and 
under  a  large  number  of  heads  were  brought 
against  him.  The  court  which  considered  them 
acquitted  Wilkes  except  as  regards  the  punish- 
ment of  several  of  his  men,  which  in  some  cases 
appeared  to  have  been  more  summary  and  se- 
vere than  the  regulations  of  the  navy  justified, 
for  which  action  a  reprimand  was  administered. 

The  collections  made  by  the  expedition,  and  the 
scientific  volumes  published  in  connection  there- 
with, were  very  important  additions  to  the  scien- 
tific knowledge  of  the  world.  Professor  Henry, 
in  1 87 1 ,  says :  "  The  basis  of  the  National  Museum 
is  a  collection  of  the  specimens  of  the  United 
States  Exploring  Expedition  under  Captain,  now 
Admiral,  Wilkes.  .  .  .  The  collections  made 
by  the  naval  expeditions — 1838  to  1842— are  sup- 
posed greatly  to  exceed  those  of  any  other  simi- 
lar character  fitted  out  by  any  government ;  no 
published  series  of  results  compare  in  magnitude 
with   that   issued   under    the   direction   of    the 


CHARLES   WILKES  207 

joint  Library  Committees  of  Congress."  Six- 
teen quarto  volumes  were  issued,  five  of  narra- 
tive and  eleven  of  a  scientific  character,  while 
other  parts  were  unfortunately  destroyed  by  fire. 

The  beginning  of  the  great  civil  war  again 
brought  Wilkes  into  striking  and  international 
prominence.  Sent  to  the  coast  of  Africa  for  the 
United  States  steamship  San  Jacinto,  Wilkes 
promptly  brought  her  into  West  Indies  waters. 
Here  he  learned  that  the  Confederate  Commis- 
sioners, John  Slidell  and  J.  M.  Mason,  had  run 
the  blockade  and  landed  in  Cuba,  and  he  decided, 
without  consultation  or  orders,  to  capture  them. 
The  San  Jacinto  was  then  cruising  for  the  Con- 
federate privateer,  the  Sumter,  but  visited  fre- 
quently the  Cuban  ports.  Wilkes  apparently 
accepted  the  prevailing  opinion  that  Mason  and 
Slidell  were  safe  from  interference,  but,  keeping 
his  views  to  himself,  he  was  frequently  seen  by 
one  of  his  subordinates  to  be  deeply  engaged  in 
perusing  international  law  books,  doubtless  oc- 
cupied in  seeking  for  precedents  in  justification 
of  his  contemplated  action. 

On  November  i,  1861,  Lieutenant  J.  A.  Greer, 
navigating  officer,  brought  word  that  Mason  and 
Slidell  were  booked  for  England  by  the  steamer 
Trent,  which  was  to  leave  Havana  on  the  7th. 
On  November  4th  Wilkes  took  station  in  the  nar- 
row channel  of  Old  Bahama,  through  which  the 
Trent  would  naturally  pass  and  where  she  could 
not  escape  being  seen  by  the  lookout.  Early  on 
the  morning  of  the  8th  Wilkes  ordered  the  ship 
cleared  for  action,  and  when  the  Trent  was  sight- 


208 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


ed  at  noon,  Wilkes  gave  his  executive  officer, 
Lieutenant  D.  M.  Fairfax,  written  instructions  to 
board  the  steamer  Trent,  with  two  armed  cutters, 
when  he  was  to  make  prisoners  of  Messrs.  Mason, 
Slidell,  and  their  secretaries,  and  seize  any  de- 
spatches which  he    might  find.     A  round    shot 


failed  to  stop  the  Trent,  but  a  shell  exploding  in 
front  of  her  bows  brought  her  to.  After  pro- 
test. Mason  and  Slidell  accepted  the  arrest,  went 
on  board  the  San  Jacinto,  whence  they  were 
taken  to  New  York  and  later  confined  as  pris- 
oners at  Fort  Warren. 

When  Wilkes  landed  in  New  York  he  found 


CHARLES   WILKES  209 

himself  again  famous,  the  central  fig-iire  toward 
which,  even  in  that  time  of  war,  the  attention  of 
all  w^as  turned.  He  was  lauded  by  almost  every 
citizen,  praised  by  nearly  every  journal,  and  was 
the  recipient  of  most  flattering  attentions.  Com- 
plimentary banquets  were  given  to  him  in  New 
York,  Boston,  and  elsewhere. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  in  a  letter  dated 
November  30,  1861,  wrote :  "  Especially  do  I 
congratulate  you  on  the  great  public  service 
you  have  rendered  in  the  capture  of  the  rebel 
emissaries.  .  .  .  Your  conduct  in  seizing 
these  public  enemies  was  marked  by  intelli- 
gence, ability,  decision,  and  firmness,  and  has 
the  emphatic  approval  of  this  Department." 
With  reference  to  the  omission  of  Wilkes  to 
capture  the  Trent,  the  Secretary  says  :  "  The  for- 
bearance exercised  in  this  instance  must  not  be 
permitted  to  constitute  a  precedent  hereafter  for 
infractions  of  neutral  obligations." 

Congress  was  not  then  in  session,  but  it  met  a 
few  weeks  later,  when  almost  the  first  act  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  was  to  pass  a  joint 
resolution  which  declared  that  "  the  thanks  of 
Congress  are  due,  and  are  hereby  tendered,  to 
Captain  Wilkes,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  for 
his  brave,  adroit,  and  patriotic  conduct  in  the 
arrest  and  detention  of  the  traitors,  James  M. 
Mason  and  John  SlidcU." 

The  hostile  attitude  of  Great  Britain,  which 
country  to  many  Americans  appeared  quite 
ready  on  slight  pretence  to  acknowledge  the 
Southern  Confederacy,  gave  great  anxiety  to  the 


210  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

administration.  The  astute  Lincoln  and  the 
diplomatic  Seward,  supported  by  the  patriotic 
Sumner  in  the  Senate,  and  other  conservative 
men  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  after  due 
correspondence  acceded  to  the  demands  of  Great 
Britain  that  the  prisoners  should  be  released. 
Seward,  however,  justified  Wilkes's  action  in  the 
main  as  legal,  but  said  that  he  erred  in  releas- 
ing the  Trent ;  and  by  constituting  himself  as  a 
court,  and  in  not  bringing  the  steamer  before  an 
admiralty  court  as  guilty  of  carrying  articles 
contraband  of  war,  had  acted  irregularly.  The 
United  States  declined  to  apologize,  as  no  offence 
to  Great  Britain  was  intended,  and  forbore  from 
claiming  against  England  the  right  of  search 
which  that  nation  had  so  persistently  exercised. 
The  Naval  Committee  of  the  Senate  reported 
without  amendment  the  resolution  of  thanks  to 
Wilkes,  but  deemed  it  best  to  postpone  it  indefi- 
nitely. The  ordinary  citizen  did  not  share  the 
conservative,  and  it  may  be  said  the  very  wise, 
course  of  the  administration,  and  the  sentiment 
throughout  the  country  was  very  generally  one 
of  national  pride  that  under  doubtful  circum- 
stances an  American  sailor  had  dared  rather  too 
much  than  too  little  for  the  dignity  and  safety  of 
his  country.  Wilkes,  himself,  when  told  that 
possibly  this  act  would  cause  him  to  lose  his 
commission,  said  that  he  deemed  his  seizure  of 
the  commissioners  simply  a  patriotic  duty,  and 
if  needs  be  was  willing  to  be  sacrificed  for  his 
country.  He  continued  to  perform  efficient  ser- 
vice during  the  war,  despite  his  advancing  years. 


CHARLES    WILKES  211 

In  1862,  while  in  command  of  the  Potomac  flo- 
tilla, he  shelled  and  destroyed  City  Point,  and  in 
command  of  a  special  squadron  to  maintain  the 
blockade,  captured  and  destroyed  many  block- 
ade-runners. 

With  the  closing  of  the  war,  and  his  retirement 
from  active  service,  Wilkes  returned  to  the  scien- 
tific pursuits  which  had  always  engrossed  his 
mind,  and  full  of  years  and  honor,  died  at  Wash- 
ington, February  8,  1877. 

Of  his  earl}'  scientific  labors  it  may  be  said 
that  they  had  contributed  in  no  small  degree  to 
the  establishment  of  a  national  institution  of  in- 
ternational repute,  the  Naval  Observator}-. 

For  his  important  additions  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  world,  and  especially  for  his  ever-zealous 
war  services,  the  memory  and  life  of  Charles 
Wilkes  will  ever  abide  fresh  and  honored  in  the 
hearts  of  his  countrymen. 


VIII. 
JOHN    CHARLES    FREMONT, 

The  Pathfinder. 

The  discovery  and  exploration  of  the  trans- 
Mississippi  region  had  many  phases,  the  outcome 
of  different  conditions  and  varying  individual 
efforts  to  determine  the  extent,  possibilities,  and 
resources  of  the  undeveloped  half  of  the  Ameri- 
can continent.  The  seamanship  of  Gray,  the  en- 
thusiasm of  Lewis,  the  courage  of  Clarke,  the 
assiduity  of  Pike,  the  enterprise  of  Ashley, 
Wyeth,  Sublette,  Bonneville,  and  other  trappers 
and  traders,  had  done  much  to  make  known  to 
the  pioneer  and  settler  the  advantages  and 
promise  of  the  great  West,  and  had  roughly 
delineated  the  routes  of  travel  best  suited  for 
the  emigrant  in  his  westward  march. 

In  time  many  urged  that  the  government  of 
the  United  States,  so  long  shamefully  negligent 
of  its  magnificent  acquisitions  by  purchase,  dis- 
covery, and  settlement,  should  enter  in  and  pos- 
sess its  own.  This,  however,  necessitated,  first, 
a  systematic  examination  of  the  physical  features 
of  the  West  to  such  an  extent  as  to  render  pos- 
sible its  general  and  authoritative  description  ; 
second,  the  granting  of  lands  or  homesteads  to 


JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT  213 

such  of  its  daring  citizens  as  might  be  willing  to 
venture  their  lives  as  settlers  in  these  remote  re- 
gions. 

Among  public  men  who  urged  most  strongly 
such  action  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of 
our  Western  statesmen,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  first 
Senator  from  the  new  and  growing  State  of  Mis- 
souri. He  persistently  advocated  the  settlement 
of  the  lower  Columbia  by  Americans,  the  en- 
forcement of  the  title  of  the  United  States  to 
the  Pacific  Coast  region  from  California  north- 
ward to  the  forty-ninth  parallel,  and  in  1825  he 
presented  in  the  Senate  a  bill  authorizing  the 
use  of  the  army  and  navy  to  protect  American 
interests  in  Oregon. 

In  season  and  out  of  season  Benton  opposed 
the  joint  occupation  of  Oregon  by  England  and 
America,  unfailingly  supporting  every  measure 
which  promised  to  fill  its  fertile  valleys  with 
American  settlers.  So  dominant  was  this  idea  in 
Benton's  career  that  artistic  skill  has  fittingly 
shaped  his  statue  in  St.  Louis  with  its  bronze 
hand  pointing  zvcst,  with  his  prophetic  words 
carved  on  the  pedestal,  "  There  is  the  east. 
There  is  India." 

In  his  efforts  to  put  his  ideas  into  practical 
shape,  Benton  threw  the  great  weight  of  his  in- 
fluence as  a  Senator  toward  the  employment  in 
such  explorations  of  a  member  of  his  family  by 
marriage,  John  Charles  Fremont,  whose  ability 
and  inclinations  specially  suited  him  for  the  sci- 
entific examination  and  exploration  of  the  trans- 
Mississippi  regi(jn. 


214 


EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 


Born  January  21,  181 3,  at  Savannah,  Ga.,  Fre- 
mont entered  Charleston  College,  where  his 
disregard  of  discipline  prevented  his  graduating, 
although  the  faculty  later  honored  him  with  the 
degrees  of  Bachelor  and  Master  of  Arts.     Well 


John  Charles  Fremont. 


grounded  in  the  classics  and  familiar  with  the 
ordinary  astronomical  methods  of  determining 
latitude  and  longitude,  Fremont  visited  South 
America  on  the  United  States  ship  Natchez,  as  a 
teacher.  Later,  appointed  a  professor  of  mathe- 
matics in  the  navy,  he  declined  the  position  to 
accept   more   congenial   service  as  assistant  en- 


JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT 


215 


gineer  of  the  United  States  Topographic  Corps, 
where  he  had  experience  in  preliminary  sur- 
veys of  railroads  and  also  in  a  military  reconnois- 
sance  among  the  Cherokees  in  Georgia.  Commis- 
sioned in  the  United  States  Army,  in  1838,  as 
second  lieutenant  in  the  Topographic  Corps,  his 


Jessie  Benton  Fremont. 

initial  service  was  fortunately  as  principal  assist- 
ant to  I.  N.  Nicolet,  in  the  survey  of  the  country 
between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Missouri.  Nico- 
let, an  able  and  distinguished  engineer,  was  the 
first  explorer  in  America  who  made  general  use 
of  the  barometer  for  determining  elevations  of 
the  great  interior  country,  and  his  map  of  this 
region  was  one  of  the  greatest  contributions 
ever  made  to  American  geography. 


216  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

In  1 841  Fremont  married  Jessie  Benton,  a 
daughter  of  Senator  Benton,  through  whose  in- 
fluence Fremont  was  assigned  to  the  command  of 
the  expedition  ordered  to  explore  the  country  be- 
tween the  Missouri  River  and  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains on  the  line  of  the  Kansas  and  Platte  Rivers. 

In  May,  1842,  while  Fremont  was  on  the  fron- 
tier making  preparations  for  the  journey,  there 
came,  as  Mrs.  Fremont  relates,  an  order  recall- 
ing him  to  Washington.  Mrs.  Fremont  sent  a 
special  messenger  to  her  husband,  advising  him 
to  move  immediately  for  good  and  sufficient 
reasons,  to  be  given  later.  Meanwhile,  holding 
the  letter,  she  wrote  the  colonel  who  had  given 
the  order  for  the  recall  that  she  had  neither  for- 
warded the  order  nor  informed  Fremont  of  it,  as 
she  knew  that  obedience  thereto  would  ruin  the 
expedition.  On  such  a  small  thread  of  circum- 
stances hung  the  fate  of  his  first  separate  com- 
mand, which  brought  Fremont  into  such  great 
prominence  in  connection  with  the  exploration 
and  development  of  the  Pacific  Coast  region. 

The  journey  of  Fremont  lay  up  the  North 
Fork  of  the  Platte,  through  South  Pass,  into 
Wind  River  Valley,  his  march  being  marked  by 
the  usual  experiences  of  hardship  and  suffering 
inseparable  from  the  time  and  region.  The  most 
notable  event  of  the  journey  was  the  ascent  of  the 
main  and  highest  peak  of  the  Wind  River  range, 
now  known  as  Fremont's  Peak.  Their  first  at- 
tempts were  unsuccessful,  the  party  suffering 
from  great  cold,  excessive  fatigue,  and  mountain 
fever  resulting  from  the  rarity  of  the  air.     Fr6- 


JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT  217 

mont,  however,  persevered  and  succeeded.  He 
describes  the  final  ascent  as  follows  : 

"  We  reached  a  point  where  the  buttress  was 
overhanging,  and  there  was  no  other  way  of  sur- 
mounting the  difficulty  than  by  passing  around 
one  side  of  it,  which  was  the  face  of  a  vertical 
precipice  of  several  hundred  feet.  Putting 
hands  and  feet  in  the  crevices  between  the 
blocks  I  succeeded  in  getting  over  it,  and  when 
I  reached  the  top  found  my  companions  in  a 
small  valley  below.  Descending  to  them,  we 
continued  climbing  and  in  a  short  time  reached 
the  crest.  I  sprang  upon  the  summit  and  another 
step  would  have  precipitated  me  into  an  im- 
mense snow-field  five  hundred  feet  below.  At 
the  edge  of  this  field  was  a  sheer  icy  precipice, 
and  then,  with  a  gradual  fall,  the  field  sloped  off 
for  about  a  mile  until  it  struck  the  foot  of  another 
lower  ridge.  I  stood  on  a  narrow  crest  about 
three  feet  in  width.  As  soon  as  I  had  gratified 
the  first  feelings  of  curiosity  I  descended,  and 
each  man  ascended  in  turn,  for  I  would  only  al- 
low one  at  a  time  to  mount  the  unstable  and  pre- 
carious slab,  which  it  seemed  a  breath  would 
hurl  into  the  abyss  below.  We  mounted  the 
barometer  in  the  snow  at  the  summit,  and  fixing 
a  ramrod  in  the  crevice,  unfurled  the  national 
flag  to  wave  in  the  breeze  where  never  flag 
waved  before."  The  elevation  of  this  summit, 
as  determined  by  Fremont,  was  13,570  feet. 

His  success  on  this  expedition  caused  his  most 
favorable  reception  by  the  War  Department  on 
his  return  to  the  States. 


218 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


Fremont's  second  expedition  contemplated  the 
connection    of  his  first  explorations   with  those 


made  by  Captain  Wilkes  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  so 
as  to  give  a  connected  survey  across  the  interior 
of  North  America.     The  party,  which  left  Kan- 


JOHN  CUARLES  FREMONT  219 

sas  City  May  29,  1843,  consisted  of  forty  men, 
equipped  with  twelve  carts  for  transportation 
and  a  light  wagon  for  scientific  instruments.  The 
route  followed  was  up  the  valley  of  the  Kansas 
River,  thence  by  the  South  Fork  of  the  Platte  to 
the  vicinity  of  the  present  city  of  Denver.  i\f- 
ter  considerable  hesitation  a  northerly  route  was 
taken,  skirting  the  westerly  limits  of  the  great 
Laramie  plain,  which  brought  Fremont  to  the 
emigrant  trail  in  the  vicinit)^  of  the  South  Pass. 
The  volume  of  travel  toward  the  Pacific  Coast 
even  at  that  early  date  may  be  estimated  from 
his  description  of  the  Oregon  trail  as  "  a  broad 
smooth  highway  where  the  numerous  heavy 
wagons  of  the  emigrants  have  entirely  beaten  and 
crushed  the  mountain  sage." 

Crossing  Green  River  and  following  up 
Ham's  Fork,  Fremont  reached  the  valley  of 
Bear  River,  the  principal  tributary  of  Great  Salt 
Lake,  which  was  filled  with  emigrants  travelling 
to  the  lower  Columbia  River.  Fremont  ex- 
pressed his  surprise  at  the  confidence  and  daring 
of  the  emigrants  as  he  met  in  one  place  "a  fam- 
ily of  two  men  and  women  and  several  children 
travelling  alone  through  such  a  country  so  re- 
mote from  civilization."  Turning  south  from 
this  point  and  quitting  the  travelled  road  Fremont 
visited  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  of  which  he  says : 
"  Hitherto  this  lake  had  been  seen  only  by  trap- 
pers, who  were  wandering  through  the  country 
in  search  of  new  beaver  streams,  caring  very 
little  for  geography ;  its  lands  had  never  been 
visited,    and  none  were   to   be  found  who   had 


220  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

entirely  made  the  circuit  of  its  shores,  and  no 
instrumental  observations  or  geographical  survey 
of  any  description  had  ever  been  made  anywhere 
in  the  neighboring  region.  It  was  generally  sup- 
posed that  the  lake  had  no  visible  outlet,  but 
among  the  trappers,  including  those  in  my  own 
camp,  were  many  who  believed  that  somewhere 
on  its  surface  was  a  terrible  whirlpool,  through 
which  its  waters  found  their  way  to  the  ocean 
by  some  subterranean  communication." 

The  lake  was  eventually  reached  from  the 
lower  part  of  Bear  River  in  an  india-rubber 
canoe,  by  means  of  which  Fremont  also  landed 
on  a  mountainous  island  near  the  centre  of  the 
lake,  where  from  an  elevation  of  eight  hundred 
feet  he  was  able  to  determine  with  considerable 
accuracy  the  contours  and  extent  of  this  remark- 
able body  of  water.  Instead  of  a  tangled  wilder- 
ness of  shrubbery  teeming  with  an  abundance  of 
game,  as  the  party  expected,  the  island  proved 
to  be  broken,  rocky  land,  some  twelve  miles  in 
circumference,  on  which  there  was  neither  water 
nor  trees ;  a  few  saline  shrubs  and  other  hardy 
plants  formed  the  only  vegetation.  The  lake 
is  described  as  being  enclosed  in  a  basin  of 
rocky  mountains,  which  sometimes  leave  grassy 
fields  and  extensive  bottoms  between  them  and 
the  shore,  while  in  other  places  they  come  direct- 
ly down  to  the  water  in  bold  and  precipitous 
bluffs.  He  speaks  of  the  water  of  the  lake  being 
at  a  low  stage  and  the  probabilities  that  the 
marshes  and  low  ground  are  overflowed  in  the 
season  of  high  water.     Fremont  says  that  "we 


JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT  221 

felt  pleasure  in  knowing  that  we  were  the  first 
who  in  the  traditional  annals  of  the  country  had 
visited  the  island  and  broke  with  joyful  sounds 
the  long  solitude."  But  in  view  of  the  dissipa- 
tion of  his  dream  of  fertility  he  named  it  Disap- 
pointment Island. 

Turning  northward  Fremont  reached,  on  Sep- 
tember i8,  1843,  Fort  Hall,  Idaho,  then  a  post 
under  British  control,  whose  original  importance 
as  an  Indian  trading-post  had  been  greatly  en- 
hanced by  its  location  on  the  emigrant  route  to 
Oregon,  at  a  distance  of  over  one  thousand  three 
hundred  miles  from  the  then  frontier  settlement 
of  Westport,  Mo.  Following  closely  the  emigrant 
trail  Fremont,  on  October  8th,  passed  Fort  Boise, 
then  occupied  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  and 
on  the  25th  of  the  month  arrived  at  another  trad- 
ing establishment  of  this  company,  at  the  junction 
of  the  Walla  Walla  and  Columbia  Rivers.  This 
was  considered  by  emigrants  as  the  practical  ter- 
mination of  their  overland  journey  since  naviga- 
tion down  the  river  was  rapid  and  convenient. 

Fremont  found  many  American  emigrants  at 
Fort  Vancouver  on  his  visit  to  that  post  and  also 
learned  that  others  already  occupied  the  adjacent 
lowlands  of  the  Willamette  Valley.  Moreover, 
these  pioneers  were  not  confining  their  efforts  to 
Oregon,  for  while  small  parties  were  pushing 
southward  through  that  valley  to  settlements  in 
Northern  California,  still  others,  making  detours 
near  Fort  Hall,  reached,  by  a  more  direct  route 
through  passes  in  the  Sierra  Nevada,  the  banks 
of  the  Sacramento. 


222  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

On  November  lo,  1843,  Fremont  left  Vancou- 
ver to  return  to  the  United  States,  having  in  view 
an  entirely  new  route  whereby  he  might  be  able 
to  complete  the  exploration  of  the  great  interior 
basin  between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the 
Sierra  Nevada,  His  party  then  consisted  of  twen- 
ty-five. Leaving  the  Columbia  at  a  point  above 
The  Dalles,  Fremont  followed  Des  Chutes  River 
to  its  source,  and  passing  over  to  Lake  Klamath, 
contemplated  a  journey  to  and  a  winter  camp  on 
either  Mary's  Lake  or  the  mythical  Buenaven- 
tura River.  His  trail  brought  him  to  Lake  Kla- 
math, and  later  to  Goose  Lake,  the  source  of  the 
Sacramento.  Winter,  had  now  commenced  ;  the 
weather  in  the  mountains  proved  to  be  extreme- 
ly cold,  snow-storms  became  frequent,  and  his 
search  for  Mary's  Lake  and  Buenaventura  River 
proved  fruitless  and  dangerous. 

These  mythical  water-courses,  which  had  been 
eliminated  from  the  domain  of  geography  by 
Bonneville's  map  of  1837,  proved  indeed  to  be 
veritable  waters  of  the  desert,  mere  mirages  that 
nearly  led  Fremont  to  an  untimely  fate.  Fre- 
mont's frequent  allusions  in  his  field  journal  to 
these  imaginary  streams  show  his  then  belief  in 
their  existence,  which  appears  extraordinary  in 
view  of  existing  publications.  In  Bonneville's 
maps  are  charted  with  general  accuracy  the  great 
interior  basins  of  the  Great  Salt,  Mud,  and  Sevier 
Lakes,  the  Humboldt  and  Sevier  Rivers.  The  gen- 
eral extent  and  direction  of  the  Willamette,  Sac- 
ramento, and  San  Joaquin  Rivers  are  indicated, 
and  the  non-existence  of  the  Buenaventura  and 


JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT  223 

Other  hypothetical  streams  was  conclusively  de- 
termined. The  existence  of  these  maps  was  gen- 
erally known,  and  their  absence  from  Fremont's 
topographic  outfit  is  remarkable  ;  a  most  unfortu- 
nate omission,  as  Benton  in  his  "  Thirty  Years' 
View"  describes  Fremont's  charts  and  geo- 
graphic information  as  "  disastrously  erroneous." 

Struggling  along  in  the  snow  through  a  forest 
of  unknown  extent,  Fremont  halted,  on  December 
1 6th,  on  the  verge  of  a  rocky  precipice,  from 
which  the  party  looked  down  more  than  one 
thousand  feet  upon  a  broad  lake,  the  most  west- 
erly waters  of  the  great  interior  basin,  which, 
from  its  pleasing  contrast  tq  the  wintry  weather 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  they  called  Summer  Lake. 
Attempting  to  travel  in  an  easterly  direction 
Fremont  found  himself  beaten  back  by  an  impass- 
able countr}^  there  being  rocky,  sterile  moun- 
tains on  either  side  which  obliged  him  to  keep  to 
the  south  through  a  wild,  barren,  and  uninhabited 
region.  Fremont,  describing  the  country,  says: 
"  On  both  sides  the  mountains  showed  often  stu- 
pendous and  curious-looking  rocks,  which  at  sev- 
eral places  so  narrowed  the  valley  that  scarcely 
a  pass  was  left  for  the  camp.  It  was  a  singular 
place  to  travel  through — shut  up  in  the  earth,  a 
sort  of  chasm,  the  little  strip  of  grass  under  our 
feet,  the  rough  walls  of  bare  rock  on  either  hand, 
and  the  narrow  strip  of  sky  above." 

The  year  1844  opened  with  the  party  in  a  for- 
lorn and  dispirited  condition,  as  they  were  prac- 
tically lost  in  the  tangle  of  the  valleys  and 
mountains.     The   grass  had    become   so   scanty 


224  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

and  unwholesome  that  the  overtaxed  animals  fell 
ill;  some  died  and  others  were  stolen  by  Indians, 
so  that  the  party  lost  fifteen  head  of  stock  by  the 
time  they  reached  Pyramid  Lake,  where  they 
camped  from  the  loth  to  the  i6th  of  January. 
Here  they  found  grass  abundant,  firewood  plen- 
tiful, and  from  an  Indian  village  they  obtained 
salmon  trout,  a  feast  to  the  famished  men.  The 
Indians  indicated  the  general  direction  of  the 
route  out  of  the  desolate  country,  but  no  one 
would  consent  to  accompany  the  party  as  guide. 
The  region  traversed  continued  so  rough  and 
lamed  the  animals  so  badly  that  on  the  i8th 
Fremont  determined  to  abandon  the  easterly 
course,  thinking  it  advisable  to  cross  the  Sierra 
Nevada  to  the  valley  of  the  Sacramento  by  the 
first  practicable  pass.  Now  and  then  a  few  Indians 
were  met,  and  finally  a  guide  was  obtained,  who 
led  them  to  the  southward,  over  a  low  range  of 
mountains  through  a  snow-covered  pass  into 
what  proved  to  be  Carson  Valley.  The  snow 
deepened  and  the  country  became  so  broken  as 
to  make  progress  difficult,  long,  tedious  detours 
necessary,  and  soon  travel  was  only  possible 
along  high  and  exposed  ridges,  which  were  com- 
paratively snow  free.  Finally  it  became  neces- 
sary to  abandon  their  mountain  howitzer  at  an 
impracticable  canon  that  led  into  a  valley  which 
Fremont  at  first  erroneously  supposed  to  be  to 
the  westward  of  the  Sierra  Nevada.  Continuing 
on  without  a  guide  they  met  other  Indians,  who 
stated  it  was  impossible  to  cross  the  mountains 
on  account  of  the  deep  snow,  but  after  much  per- 


JOUN  CHARLES  FREMONT  225 

suasion,  and  by  means  of  large  presents,  an  Indian 
guide  was  finally  induced  to  undertake  the  jour- 
ney. Fremont,  fully  conscious  of  the  desperate 
conditions,  which  entailed  the  possible  death  of 
all,  endeavored  to  encourage  his  men  by  remind- 
ing them  of  the  contrast  between  the  fast  falling 
snow  of  the  surrounding  Sierra  Nevada  and  the 
flower-clad  meadows  in  the  adjacent  valley  of  the 
Sacramento,  and  informed  them  that  his  astronom- 
ical observations  showed  that  they  were  only  sixty 
miles  distant  from  Sutter's  great  establishment. 

Their  provisions  were  now  practicall}^  ex- 
hausted ;  neither  tallow,  grease,  nor  salt  remained, 
and  even  their  hunting  dogs  were  killed  for  food. 
Making  the  best  of  the  situation  their  clothing 
and  outfit  were  put  in  the  best  of  order,  and  on 
February  2d,  crossing  the  frozen  river  on  the  ice, 
the  party  commenced  the  ascent  of  the  moun- 
tain, the  men,  Fremont  relates,  being  unusually 
silent  over  the  hazardous  and  doubtful  enterprise. 
Ten  men,  mounted  on  the  strongest  horses, 
broke  the  road,  each  man  in  succession  opening 
the  path,  either  on  foot  or  on  horseback,  until 
he  and  his  horse  became  exhausted,  when  he 
dropi^ed  to  the  rear.  The  very  deep  snow  made 
it  impossible  to  follow  the  main  valley,  and  they 
necessarily  worked  along  steep  and  difficult 
mountain-sides.  On  the  third  day  the  snow  had 
become  so  deep  that  their  best  horses  gave  out 
entirely,  refusing  to  make  further  effort;  the  day 
ended  with  the  party  ata  stand-still  and  the  camp 
equipage  strewed  along  the  route.  Too  ex- 
hausted to  make  huts,  they  camped  that  night 
15 


226 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


without  shelter  and  suffered  bitterly  from  the  un- 
usual cold,  as  the  temperature  fell  to  twenty-two 
degrees  below  freezing.     Two  Indians  who  had 


joined   the  party  expatiated  on  the  impossibility 
of  crossing  at  this  point,  and  the  guide,  influenced 
by  them,  deserted  the  party  the  next  morning. 
Having  obtained  snow-shoes  from  the  Indians, 


JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT  227 

on  February  6th,  Fremont,  accompanied  by  Car- 
son and  Fitzpatrick,  made  a  reconnoissance  and 
reached  a  high  peak,  from  which  Carson  saw  a 
little  mountain  to  the  westward  which  he  recog- 
nized as  one  seen  by  him  fifteen  years  before,  so 
that  confidence  was  somewhat  restored.  On  ex- 
amining the  general  depth  of  the  snow  it  was 
found  to  be  five  feet,  but  in  places  it  proved  to 
be  twenty.  As  this  snow  was  plainly  impracti- 
cable for  the  pack-train,  sledges  were  made  for 
transporting  the  baggage,  which  was  dragged 
forward  by  the  men  with  the  expectation  that  the 
horses  without  load  could  break  a  path  for  them- 
selves. Unfortunately  the  weather  turned  bit- 
terly cold,  and  the  temperature  falling  thirty-five 
degrees  below  the  freezing-point,  a  number  of 
the  men  were  frost-bitten. 

Fremont,  and  indeed  the  whole  party,  now 
realized  that  the  crossing  of  the  mountains  into 
the  valley  of  the  Sacramento  was  a  struggle  for 
life,  but  this  in  no  wise  disorganized  the  party. 
This  desperate  march  lasted  during  the  whole  of 
February.  Finally  Fremont  with  the  advance 
party  reached  Sutter's  ranch  on  March  6th  in  a 
state  of  complete  exhaustion  ;  help  was  imme- 
diately sent  to  the  main  party,  which  arrived  a 
few  days  later.  Fremont's  route  across  the 
mountains  was  practically  through  the  pass  now 
crossed  by  the  Central  Pacific  Railway,  the  de- 
scent into  the  Sacramento  being  through  the 
valley  of  the  American  River.  In  crossing  the 
Sierras  not  less  than  thirty-four  out  of  the  sixty- 
seven  horses  died  of  exhaustion  or  were  killed 


228  EXPLORERS  AND    TRAVELLERS 

for  food,  the  meat  of  these  animals  being  the 
only  resource  against  starvation. 

One  of  the  party,  DeRossier,  became  insane  on 
March  ist,  and  Fremont  says  :  "  Hunger  and 
fatigue  joined  to  weakness  of  body  and  fear  of 
perishing  in  the  mountains  had  crazed  him.  The 
times  were  severe  when  stout  men  lost  their 
minds  from  extremity  of  suffering,  when  horses 
died,  when  mules  and  horses  ready  to  die  of 
starvation  were  killed  for  food,  yet  there  was  no 
murmuring  or  hesitation." 

Sutter's  Fort,  on  the  Sacramento,  was  then  the 
most  important  American  estabhshment  in  Cali- 
fornia ;  the  fort  itself  was  an  adobe  structure  de- 
fended by  twelve  pieces  of  artillery.  Sutter  had 
a  large  force  in  his  employ  engaged  in  farming 
his  extensive  wheat-fields,  in  miUing  operations, 
in  blacksmith-  and  other  work-shops. 

One  might  have  thought  that  Fremont  would 
have  delayed  long  in  the  delightful  climate  and 
conditions  that  obtained  at  Sutter's,  but  such 
was  not  the  nature  of  the  man.  The  entire  party 
were  reunited  at  Sutter's  Fort  on  March  8th,  and 
under  Fremont's  well-directed  efforts,  in  the  short 
space  of  fourteen  days  the  starving  band  was  re- 
organized, remounted,  and  equipped  fully  for 
instant  march.  The  return  journey  was  to  be 
through  the  pass  at  the  head  of  the  San  Joaquin 
River,  discovered  by  Walker,  whose  name  was 
affixed  to  it  by  Fremont.  Crossing  the  Sierra 
Nevada  the  party  struck  the  Spanish  trail,  which 
was  then  followed  by  all  wagon-trains  or  mount- 
ed   parties  travelling    to  and  fro    between   Los 


JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT  229 

Angeles  and  Santa  Fe.  The  region  over  which 
they  passed  was  desolate  in  the  extreme,  the  road 
rough  and  rocky,  grass  scant)^  and  poor,  while 
water  was  found  only  in  holes  and  at  long  dis- 
tances. In  pointing  to  it,  Fremont's  Spanish 
guide  well  states :  "  There  are  the  great  plains  ; 
there  is  found  neither  water  nor  grass — nothing; 
every  animal  which  goes  upon  them  dies." 

The  party  had  to  undergo  not  only  terrible  dis- 
comforts arising  from  the  physical  conditions  of 
the  country,  but  was  also  harassed  by  hostile  Ind- 
ians, who  stole  some  of  their  stock.  The  expe- 
dition fortunately  escaped  with  the  loss  of  only 
one  man,  although  parties  in  advance  and  in  their 
rear  were  plundered  and  slaughtered.  Speaking 
.of  their  travelling  alone  in  twenty-seven  days  a 
distance  of  five  hundred  and  fifty  miles  through 
this  inhospitable  region,  Fremont  comments,  that 
although  their  lonely  journey  gave  them  the  ad- 
vantage of  more  grass,  yet  they  "  had  the  disad- 
vantage of  finding  also  the  marauding  savages 
who  had  gathered  down  upon  the  trail,  waiting 
the  approach  of  their  prey.  This  greatly  in- 
creased our  labors,  besides  costing  us  the  life  of 
an  excellent  man.  We  had  to  move  all  day  in 
a  state  of  watch  and  prepare  for  combat,  scouts 
and  flankers  out,  a  front  and  rear  division  of 
our  men,  and  baggage  animals  in  the  centre. 
At  night  camp  duty  was  severe ;  those  who  had 
toiled  all  day  had  to  guard  by  turns  the  camp 
and  horses  all  night.  Frequently  one-third  of 
the  whole  party  were  on  guard  at  once,  and 
nothing  but  this  vigilance  saved  us  from  attack. 


230  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

We  were  constantly  dogged  by  bands  and  even 
whole  tribes  of  the  marauders." 

Reaching,  in  Southern  Utah,  the  head-waters 
of  the  Virgin  River,  where  Santa  Fe  trains 
usually  halt  to  recruit  the  strength  of  their  ani- 
mals in  its  grassy  meadows,  Fremont  was  joined 
by  the  famous  trapper,  Joseph  Walker,  who  con- 
sented to  serve  as  guide  in  the  departure  to  the 
northeastward,  as  they  now  quitted  the  Spanish 
trail.  Fremont  then  skirted  the  eastern  edge  of 
the  great  interior  basin  and  visiting  Sevier  and 
Utah  Lakes,  thus  completed  practically  the  cir- 
cuit of  the  basin.  He  then  turned  eastward 
through  the  valleys  of  the  DuChesne  and  Green 
Rivers,  tributaries  to  the  Colorado,  and  push- 
ing through  the  very  heart  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, by  the  way  of  the  pass  near  Leadville, 
at  an  elevation  of  eleven  thousand  two  hundred 
feet,  he  reached  the  Arkansas  Valley  June  29, 
1844. 

His  journey  eastward  across  the  great  Kansas 
plains  was  of  an  easy  character,  and  the  31st 
of  July,  1844,  saw  his  expedition  safe  at  Inde- 
pendence, Mo.  He  had  been  absent  fourteen 
months,  during  which  time  he  had  travelled  some 
six  thousand  five  hundred  miles,  the  greater  part 
of  his  journey  being  through  the  most  barren  and 
inhospitable  regions  of  North  America. 

The  character  and  extent  of  Fremont's  astro- 
nomical and  other  physical  observations  on  this 
long,  arduous,  and  dangerous  journey  constituted 
the  great  value  of  his  exploring  work.  In  few 
instances  did  it  fall  to  Fremont's  lot  .to  first  ex- 


JOHN  CUARLES  FREMONT 


231 


plore  any  section  of  the  country,  but  it  was  his 
good  fortune,  as  it  was  his  intent,  to  first  con- 
tribute systematic,  extended,  and  reliable  data  as 
to  climate,  elevation,  physical  conditions,  and 
geographical  positions.  The  hypsometrical  work 
begun  by  Fremont  culminated,  indeed,  in  the  un- 


~<5^-^  paralleled  collation  of  ele- 
vations by  Gannett;  his 
climatic  observations  have  been  perfected  by  the 
Signal  Corps;  his  astronomical  and  geological 
data  have  been  overwhelmed  by  the  magnificent 
collections  and  field  work  of  the  United  States 
Coast  and  Geodetic  and  Geological  Surveys;  but 
it  is  to  be  noted  that  Fremont's  observations, 
which  he  gave  in  detail,  were  so  honest  and 
good  that  they  have  withstood  successfully  the 
test  of  hostile  examination.     Fremont's  scientific 


232  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

spirit  was  strikingly  exemplified  in  this  terrible 
mid-winter  journey  through  the  mountains  of 
Nevada,  when  observations  for  time,  latitude, 
elevation,  or  temperature  were  daily  and  regu- 
larly made  despite  snow,  extreme  cold,  and  phys- 
ical weakness  from  semi-starvation. 

On  the  recommendation  of  General  Winfield 
Scott,  in  a  special  report,  the  unprecedented 
honor  of  double  brevets — of  first  lieutenant  and 
captain — was  conferred  on  Fremont  for  gallant 
and  highly  meritorious  services  in  connection 
with  these  two  expeditions. 

Fremont's  third  expedition  consisted  of  sixty 
men.  They  left  Bent's  Fort,  on  the  Arkansas, 
August  i6,  1845.  Its  object,  as  far  as  explora- 
tion was  concerned,  included  a  survey  of  the 
head-waters  of  the  Arkansas,  Rio  Grande,  and 
Rio  Colorado,  the  basin  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake 
and  the  practicable  passes  of  the  Cascade  and 
southern  Sierra  Nevada. 

It  was  during  this  journey  that  Fremont  quite 
fully  surveyed  the  southern  shores  of  Salt  Lake. 
The  water  was  then  at  an  unusually  low — possi- 
bly at  its  lowest  known — level,  and  having  been 
informed  by  the  Indians  that  it  was  fordable  to 
Antelope  Island,  Fremont  with  Kit  Carson  rode 
to  the  island,  the  water  nowhere  reaching  above 
the  saddle-girths  of  their  horses. 

Dividing  his  party  Fremont  crossed  the  Utah 
desert  between  the  thirty-eighth  and  thirty-ninth 
parallels,  while  his  subordinate,  Walker,  explored 
the  valley  and  sink  of  the  Humboldt.  Ren- 
dezvousing at  Lake  Walker   and  again  separat- 


JOUN  CHARLES  FREMONT  233 

ing,  Fi-emont  reached  Sutter's  Fort  through  the 
American  River  route,  while  Walker  and  the 
main  party  crossed  the  Sierras  into  the  extreme 
southern  part  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley,  oppo- 
site Tulare  Lake.  Of  the  survey  and  explora- 
tions made  by  the  expedition  it  may  be  briefly 
said  that  they  added  very  greatly  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  Upper  California,  and  resulted  in  the 
publication  in  1848  of  the  most  accurate  map  of 
that  region  extant. 

There  was,  however,  another  and  more  im- 
portant phase  to  the  third  expedition  than  that 
of  mere  exploration.  Fremont  before  leaving 
Washington  was  informed  that  war  with  Mexico 
was  possible,  and  received  general  unwritten  in- 
structions looking  to  such  a  contingency.  The 
forecast  of  trouble  proved  correct,  and  the  pre- 
liminary and  extensive  disturbances  in  California 
interfered  most  materially  with  the  progress  of 
his  surveys.  Fremont's  explorations  westward 
of  the  Arkansas  River  had  been  through  and 
over  Mexican  territory.  In  order  to  place  him- 
self in  proper  position  as  a  non-invader  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Monterey,  Cal.,  at  the  earliest  practi- 
cable moment  and  applied  to  the  commanding 
general,  Don  Jos6  Castro,  for  permission  to  ex- 
tend, in  the  interests  of  science  and  commerce, 
the  geographical  survey  of  the  nearest  route 
between  the  United  States  and  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
The  request  was  granted  promptly  and  courte- 
ously. Scarcely  had  Fr6m(Mit  commenced  his 
survey  in  Northern  California  than  he  was  per- 
emptorily ordered  by  General  Castro,  who  later 


234  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

appears  to  have  been  acting  under  orders  from 
the  Mexican  Government,  to  quit  the  depart- 
ment ;  the  message  being  coupled  with  an  inti- 
mation that  non-compliance  would  result  in  ex- 
pulsion by  an  armed  force.  The  message  was 
delivered  in  such  manner  and  language  as  in- 
censed Fremont  and  caused  him  to  peremptorily 
refuse.  Withdrawing  a  short  distance  he  erected 
a  stockade  and  awaited  expulsion  by  arms.  The 
Mexican  force  made  several  forward  movements, 
but  carefully  avoided  an  attack.  Fremont  final- 
ly judged  it  advisable  to  quit  Mexican  territory, 
as  his  remaining  might  be  detrimental  to  the 
United  States.  He  consequently  withdrew  slow- 
ly toward  Oregon,  surveying  and  exploring  as 
he  moved  northward. 

On  May  7,  1845,  Fremont  was  overtaken  in 
the  valley  of  the  upper  Sacramento  by  Lieu- 
tenant Archibald  H.  Gillespie,  of  the  marine 
corps,  who  brought  from  Washington  impor- 
tant despatches  which  were  destined  to  settle 
the  fate  of  California  as  a  Mexican  state.  Fre- 
mont was  informed  through  Gillespie  that  war 
with  Mexico  had  been  declared,  that  the  govern- 
ment counted  upon  him  to  ascertain  and  concil- 
iate the  disposition  of  the  people  of  California 
toward  the  United  States,  and  especially  to  con- 
serve American  interests  by  ascertaining  and 
counteracting  any  scheme  looking  to  the  cession 
of  California  to  Great  Britain.  Fremont  was 
then  surrounded  by  hostile  Klamaths,  who  killed 
several  of  his  party  and  with  whom  he  had 
several  engagements,  which   resulted  in  the  de 


JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT  235 

struction  of  the  principal  village,  fishing  appli- 
ances, etc.,  of  the  offending  tribe. 

Fremont,  turning  promptly  southward,  his 
heart  set  on  the  important  mission  intrusted 
to  him,  saved  from  ravage  the  American  settle- 
ments in  the  valley  of  the  Sacramento,  which 
were  in  imminent  danger  of  destruction  between 
the  proclamation  of  the  Mexican  authorities 
ordering  confiscation  and  expulsion  and  the 
threatening  attitude  of  the  Indian  allies,  incited 
by  unscrupulous  officials  to  activity.  Aided  by 
volunteers  from  the  American  settlers  Fremont 
freed  California  permanently  from  Mexican  dom- 
ination, his  actions  receiving  mention  and  ap- 
proval from  the  President  in  his  Annual  Mes- 
sage to  Congress,  in  December,  1846. 

Commodore  Stockton,  United  States  Navy, 
charged  with  the  control  of  affairs  on  the  Pacific 
Coast,  appointed  Fremont  Governor  and  military 
commander  of  California.  When  controversies 
arose  between  Commodore  Stockton,  of  the  navy, 
and  General  Kearney,  of  the  army,  each  hav- 
ing authority  from  Washington  to  conquer  Cali- 
fornia and  organize  its  government,  Fremont 
adhered  to  Stockton,  his  first  commander.  In 
consequence  serious  complications  arose,  which 
finally  resulted  in  the  trial  of  Fremont,  and,  al- 
though the  findings  of  the  court  were  parti)'  dis- 
approved and  the  sentence  remitted,  he  resigned 
from  the  arm3\ 

His  courage,  persistency,  and  success  in  these 
expeditions  gained  for  Fremont  world-wide  rep- 
utation.     At   home    he    was    named    The  Path- 


236  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

finder ;  abroad  he  received  the  Founders'  Medal 
from  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  of  Eng- 
land and  many  other  well-deserved  marks  of 
appreciation  from  geographers. 

Devoted  to  California  and  to  its  exploration 
Fremont  immediately  fitted  out,  at  his  own 
expense,  another  expedition,  the  fourth.  In 
October,  1848,  with  thirty  -  three  men  and  a 
large  train  he  crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
undeterred  by  his  fearful  experiences  in  1844, 
and  again  attempted  the  passage  of  the  snow- 
covered  Sierras  in  mid-winter.  The  snow  was 
deep,  the  guide  inefficient,  and  the  winter  un- 
usually cold.  One-third  of  his  men  and  all  his 
animals  perished  after  suffering  cold,  hunger,  and 
fatigue  of  the  most  appalling  character,  and  the 
remnant  of  the  expedition  returned  to  Santa  Fe. 
Unappalled  by  this  overwhelming  disaster  Fre- 
mont reorganized  at  Santa  Fe  a  new  party,  and 
after  a  long,  perilous  journey  reached  Sacra- 
mento in  the  spring  of  1849. 

Fremont's  experiences  during  his  surveys  of 
the  great  valleys  of  the  San  Joaquin  and  Sacra- 
mento caused  him  to  fall  under  the  fascinating 
spell  which  California  exercises  over  the  greater 
number  of  its  Eastern  settlers.  The  vast  domain 
of  its  virgin  forests,  the  luxuriance  of  its  vegeta- 
tion, the  extent  and  fertility  of  its  valley  lands, 
and  its  incomparable  climate  were  speedily  rec- 
ognized by  Fremont  as  so  many  physical  condi- 
tions calculated  to  insure  unparalleled  prosperity 
when  once  it  should  be  occupied  by  Americans. 
He  saw  this  vast  region  practically  a  waste ;  its 


JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT  237 

magnificent  harbors  unvexed,  unbroken  by  the 
keels  of  commerce  ;  its  unrivalled  valleys  await- 
ing the  hand  of  intelligent  labor  to  transform 
them  from  mere  pastures  for  scattered  herds  of 
cattle  into  fruitful  granaries,  orchards,  and  vine- 
yards capable  of  feeding  a  continent.  Imbued 
with  these  ideas  he  cast  in  his  lot  with  Califor- 
nia, and  was  a  potent  power  in  making  it  a  free 
State,  and  was  honored  by  election  as  its  first 
Senator,  unfortunately,  however,  drawing  the 
short  term  in  the  United  States  Senate. 

Failing,  through  the  defeat  of  his  party,  of 
re-election,  Fremont  visited  Europe  for  a  brief 
and  well  -  earned  rest,  which  was  broken  by 
the  authorization  of  Congress  for  a  survey  of 
a  trans-continental  railway,  which  awoke  his 
dormant  exploring  spirit.  Returning  promptly 
to  the  United  States  he  organized  an  expedition 
under  private  auspices,  which  started  westward 
in  September,  1853.  He  travelled  by  the  cen- 
tral route  through  the  mountains  of  Colorado, 
passing  over  the  Sierra  Blanca,  through  the 
Sandy  Hill  Pass  and  the  valley  of  the  Grand 
River.  Turning  southward  into  Utah  and  cross- 
ing the  Sawatch  Mountains,  Fremont's  march 
brought  him  to  the  Sierra  Nevada  near  the 
end  of  winter,  and  their  passage  was  attempted 
near  the  thirty-seventh  parallel.  Thereof  he 
writes :  "  I  was  prepared  to  find  the  Sierra  here 
broad,  rugged,  and  blocked  with  snow,  and  was 
not  disappointed  in  my  expectations."  The 
snow  being  impassable  and  food  failing  he  made  a 
detour  of  some  seventy  miles  to  the  southward 


238  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

and  reached  the  Kern  River  Valley  through 
Walker  Pass.  The  march  entailed  endless  suf- 
fering and  extreme  privations  on  the  party, 
which  was  pushed  to  the  direst  extremities  to 
preserve  life.  They  were  often  without  food 
of  any  kind  for  an  entire  day  and  for  many 
weeks  had  only  the  flesh  of  their  emaciated  and 
exhausted  horses.  The  disastrous  outcome  of 
this  expedition  impaired  Fremont's  reputation, 
it  appearing,  then  as  now,  surprising  that,  aware 
by  bitter  experience  of  the  impracticability  of 
such  a  journey,  he  should  have  so  timed  his 
march  as  to  be  again  overwhelmed  by  the  dread- 
ful winter  snow  of  the  Nevada  range. 

This  sketch  has  in  view  the  treatment  neither 
of  Fremont's  career  as  a  soldier  nor  as  a  poli- 
tician, which  phases  of  his  life,  viewed  by  ordi- 
nary circumstances,  may  be  considered  as  unsuc- 
cessful. It  need  not  be  here  dwelt  on  that  his  name 
became  a  watchword  of  the  ever-growing  spirit 
of  human  freedom,  and  that  as  the  standard- 
bearer  of  an  idea  he  astonished  the  country  and 
the  world  by  obtaining  the  suffrages  of  nearly 
one  and  a  half  millions  of  his  countrymen  for 
the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people.  His 
unwavering,  if  impractical,  devotion  to  freedom 
was  forcibly  illustrated  by  his  emancipation  proc- 
lamation in  Missouri,  which  he  declined  to  re- 
call, even  at  the  request  of  the  President  who 
revoked  it. 

It  is  undoubted  that  Fremont's  non-success  in 
business  and  political  ventures  has  tended  to 
diminish    his  reputation  as   an  explorer,  a  rep- 


JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT.  239 

utation  which,  it  is  safe  to  say,  must  continue  to 
grow  steadily  in  the  future  with  the  develop- 
ment of  the  great  trans-Rocky  Mountain  region 
to  which  he  gave  the  enthusiasm  of  his  youth, 
the  maturity  of  his  manhood,  and  for  which  he 
sacrificed  his  profession  and  his  private  fortune. 
While  Fremont  loved  all  the  great  West,  it  was 
to  California  especially  that  he  gave  the  best  he 
had  of  mind,  heart,  and  body,  never  sparing 
himself  in  any  effort  for  the  upbuilding  of  her 
future.  So  it  is  that  in  the  scene  of  his  activi- 
ties on  the  shores  of  the  golden  Pacific,  rather 
than  on  the  coast  of  the  Atlantic,  should  be 
more  appreciated  the  labors  and  ever  grow 
brighter  and  brighter  the  name  of  John  C.  Fre- 
mont, the  Pathfinder. 


IX. 

ELISHA  KENT  KANE, 

Arctic  Explorer. 

Among  the  picturesque  and  striking  figures 
of  Arctic  explorers  none  abides  more  firmly 
in  the  minds  of  Americans  than  that  of  Elisha 
Kent  Kane,  whose  career  and  fame  largely  relate 
to  the  fate  of  the  lost  explorer,  Sir  John  Franklin. 

Kane  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  February  3, 
1820.  In  1842  he  graduated  in  medicine  at  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  following 
year,  while  waiting  for  a  vacancy  in  the  medi- 
cal corps  of  the  navy,  for  which  he  had  passed 
an  examination,  sailed  on  the  frigate  Brandy  wine, 
as  physician  to  the  embassy,  to  China,  under 
Caleb  Cushing,  Minister  Plenipotentiary.  Later, 
commissioned  as  an  officer  of  the  medical  corps 
of  the  United  States  Navy,  he  served  on  the 
west  coast  of  Africa,  in  Brazil,  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, and  on  special  duty  with  the  army  in 
Mexico.  This  brief  statement  of  his  duties  con- 
veys, however,  no  idea  of  the  intense  energy  and 
restless  activity  of  Kane  in  his  eager  efforts  to 
acquire  personal  knowledge  of  the  very  ends  of 
the  earth. 

Indeed,  considering  Kane's  very  short  life  (he 


ELISHA  KENT  KANE  241 

died  at  thirty-seven),  there  is  no  man  of  modern 
times  to  whom  the  words  of  Tennyson,  in  his 
strong  poem  of  Ulysses,  more  fittingly  apply : 

"  I  cannot  rest  from  travel,      .     .     . 
For  always  roaming  with  a  hungry  heart 
Much  have  I  seen  and  known  :  cities  of  men 
And  manners,  climates,  councils,  governments, 
Myself  not  least  but  honored  of  them  all." 

Suffice  it  here  to  say  that  before  Kane  was 
thirty  he  had  visited  in  America  the  greater  part 
of  the  eastern  half  of  the  United  States,  the  city 
of  Mexico,  Cuba,  and  Brazil  from  Rio  de  Janeiro 
to  the  eastern  Andes  ;  in  Africa,  along  the  Gold 
and  Slave  Coasts,  to  Dahomey,  Cape  Colony,  and 
up  the  Nile  to  the  Second  Cataract ;  in  Europe, 
the  eastern,  southern,  and  central  countries  ;  in 
Asia,  the  coast  of  China,  Ceylon,  India  from 
Bombay  to  the  Himalayas,  Persia,  and  Syria. 
Elsewhere  he  had  travelled  in  the  islands  of 
Cape  Verde,  Singapore,  Java,  Sumatra,  and  Lu- 
zon of  the  Philippines.  This  incessant  travel  is 
the  more  remarkable  as  he  was  always  sea-sick, 
was  a  man  of  delicate  physique,  and  nowhere 
passed  six  months  without  being  prostrated  by 
severe  illness.  As  to  personal  experiences,  he 
had  been  wounded  in  Egypt  by  a  Bedouin  who 
strove  to  rob  him,  narrowly  escaped  death  in 
saving  captured  Mexican  officers  from  slaughter 
at  the  hands  of  renegade  irregulars,  and  barely 
survived  his  unique  experiences  in  the  crater  of 
a  volcano. 

His  descent  into  the  volcano  of  Tael,  in  the 
16 


242 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


Philippines,  illustrates  Kane's  utter  disregard  of 
dangers  whenever  he  desired  to  investigate  any 
phenomena.     As  related  by  Dr.  Elder,  Kane  not 


Elisha  Kent  Kane 


only  was  lowered  two  hundred  feet  below  the 
point  usually  visited,  but  descended  to  the  very 
surface  of  the  burning  lake  and  dipped  his 
specimen  bottles  into  the  steaming  sulphur  water. 
This  feat  nearly  cost  him  his  life,  for  although 


ELISHA  KENT  KANE  243 

he  was  able  to  crawl  to  and  fasten  the  bamboo 
ropes  around  his  body,  yet  his  boots  were 
charred  in  pieces  on  his  feet,  sulphurous  air-cur- 
rents stifled  him  into  insensibility,  and  he  would 
have  perished  had  it  not  been  for  the  strenuous 
exertions  of  Baron  Loe,  his  companion. 

The  turning-point  in  Kane's  life  came  in  1850, 
when,  induced  by  the  persistent  petition  of 
Lady  Franklin,  President  Taylor  recommended 
to  Congress  an  appropriation  for  an  expedition 
in  search  of  Sir  John  Franklin  and  his  missing 
ships.  Kane  immediately  volunteered  for  Arctic 
service,  pressing  and  urging  his  application  by 
every  means  at  his  command.  Congress  acted 
tardily,  so  that  the  whole  expedition  was  fitted 
out  in  eighteen  days,  and  Kane  at  the  last  mo- 
ment, when  his  hopes  had  failed,  received  orders 
as  surgeon  of  the  Advance,  the  flagship,  which 
he  joined  May  20,  1850. 

The  expedition  owed  its  existence  to  the  en- 
terprise and  generosity  of  Henry  Grinnell,  whose 
philanthropic  mind  planned,  practical  energy 
equipped,  and  munificence  endowed  it.  Without 
Grinnell's  action  Congress  would  have  failed  to 
fit  out  the  expedition,  and  the  grateful  chapter 
of  American  co-operation  with  England  in  its 
Franklin  search  would  have  been  unwritten. 
Such  practical  displays  of  sympathy  in  matters 
of  general  and  national  interest,  now  considered 
the  most  hopeful  signs  of  international  fellow- 
ship, may  be  said  to  have  been  inaugurated  by 
the  despatch  of  the  first  Grinnell  expedition  on 
its  errand  of  humanity. 


244  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

Under  a  joint  resolution  of  Congress,  passed 
May  2,  1850,  the  President  was  authorized  "to 
accept  and  attach  to  the  navy  two  vessels  offered 
by  Henry  Grinnell,  Esq.,  to  be  sent  to  the  Arctic 
seas  in  search  of  Sir  John  Franklin  and  his  com- 
panions." These  vessels — two  very  small  brigs, 
the  fiagship  Advance  and  the  Rescue — were 
placed  under  command  of  Lieutenant  Edwin  J. 
DeHaven,  an  officer  of  Antarctic  service  under 
Wilkes.  The  vessels  had  detachable  rudders, 
modern  fittings,  were  admirably  strengthened  and 
fully  equipped  ;  in  short,  they  were  thoroughly 
adapted  to  the  difficult  navigation  in  prospect. 
Where  Grinnell's  forethought  and  liberality 
ended  there  was,  says  Kane,  another  tale :  the 
strictly  naval  equipment  could  not  be  praised, 
and  the  "  crews  consisted  of  man-of-war's-men  of 
various  climes  and  habitudes,  with  constitutions 
most  of  them  impaired  by  disease  or  temporarily 
broken  by  the  excesses  of  shore  life ; "  but  he  com- 
mends them  as  ever  brave,  willing,  and  reliable. 

The  squadron  touched  at  various  Greenland 
ports  and  then  entered  the  dreaded  ice-pack  of 
Melville  Bay,  in  which  the  sailing  vessels  made 
slow  progress  ;  but  in  their  besetment  of  three 
weeks  the  only  dangerous  experience  was  a 
"nip,"  which  nearly  destroyed  the  Advance. 
The  movement  of  the  ice-floes  is  thus  graphical- 
ly told  by  Kane  :  "  The  momentum  of  the  assail- 
ing ffoe  was  so  irresistible  that  as  it  impinged 
against  the  solid  margin  of  the  land  ice  there 
was  no  recoil,  no  interruption  to  its  progress. 
The  elastic  material  corrugated  before  the  enor- 


ELI  SUA  KENT  KANE  245 

mous  pressure,  then  cracked,  then  crumbled, 
and  at  last  rose,  the  lesser  over  the  greater,  slid- 
ing up  in  great  inclined  planes,  and  these  again, 
breaking  by  their  weight  and  their  continued 
impulse,  toppled  over  in  long  lines  of  fragment- 
ary ice." 

De Haven  entered  Lancaster  Sound,  near  the 
end  of  August,  in  company  with  half  a  dozen 
English  ships  bound  on  the  same  humane  er- 
rand, and  on  the  24th  Master  Griffin,  of  the  Res- 
cue, participated  in  the  search  with  Captain 
Ommaney,  which  resulted  in  the  discovery,  on 
Beechy  Island,  of  vestiges  of  an  encampment. 
Two  days  later  DeHaven  and  Kane  shared  in 
the  joint  search,  wherein  Captain  Penny  dis- 
covered the  graves  of  three  of  Franklin's  crew. 
These  discoveries  proved  that  Franklin's  expe- 
dition had  wintered  there  during  1845-46,  and 
later  innumerable  traces  of  their  stay  were  not- 
ed, indicating  the  good  condition  and  activity 
of  the  expedition.  On  September  loth  DeHa- 
ven's  squadron  was  off  Griffith  Island  in  com- 
pany with  eight  English  search  ships.  Consult- 
ing with  Griffin,  DeHaven  concluded  that  they 
had  not  attained  such  a  position  as  promised  ad- 
vantageous operations  in  the  season  of  185 1,  and 
so  decided  to  extricate  the  vessels  from  the  ice 
and  return  home. 

Strong  gales  and  an  unusually  early  advance 
of  winter  prevented  such  action  and  resulted  in 
the  ships  being  frozen  up  in  the  pack,  where 
they  drifted  helplessly  to  and  fro,  a  condition 
they  were  destined  to  undergo  for  many  months. 


ELISUA   KENT  KANE  247 

Beset  in  the  middle  of  Wellington  Channel,  the 
American  squadron,  with  varying  movements 
to  and  fro,  first  drifted  under  the  influence  of 
southerly  gales  to  the  north-northwest,  attain- 
ing latitude  75^  25'  N.,  longitude  93°  31'  W.  In 
this  northerly  drift  the  expedition  discovered 
Murdaugh  Island  and  quite  extensive  masses  of 
land  to  the  northwest  of  North  Devon,  to  which 
the  name  of  Grinnell  was  given.  This  land  was 
further  extended  the  following  year  by  the  dis- 
coveries of  Captain  Penny,  and  most  unwarrant- 
able efforts  were  made  by  ungenerous  and  un- 
appreciating  officials  in  England  to  take  from 
the  American  squadron  its  ewe  lamb  of  1850,  an 
attempt  that,  properly  refuted,  failed  of  its  pur- 
pose. 

October  2,  i860,  the  direction  of  the  drift 
changed  to  the  south  and  later  to  the  east.  Their 
involuntary  course  lay  through  Wellington 
Channel,  Barrow  Strait,  and  Lancaster  Sound 
into  Baffin  Bay,  where  release  came,  near  Cape 
Walsingham,  June  5,  185 1.  The  drift  covered 
ten  hundred  and  fifty  miles  and  lasted  eight  and 
a  half  months.  The  sun  was  absent  twelve 
weeks.  It  is  impossible  to  adequately  describe 
the  physical  and  mental  sufferings  of  the  party 
during  this  protracted  ice  imprisonment.  It  was 
a  constant  succession  of  harassing  conditions, 
each,  if  possible,  seeming  worse  than  the  for- 
mer. Now  the  ships  were  so  firmly  imbedded  in 
the  cemented  ice-pack  that  extrication  appeared 
impossible  ;  again  the  complete  disruption  of  the 
pack  threatened,  or  the  instant   destruction    of 


248  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

their  vessels  impended,  with  prospects  of  a  win- 
ter on  the  naked  floe  under  such  conditions  of 
darkness,  sickness,  lack  of  shelter,  and  suitable 
nutrition  as  would  render  a  lingering  death  un- 
avoidable. No  single  week  passed  with  a  feel- 
ing of  security  ;  for  days  at  a  time  there  was  no 
hour  free  from  terrible  suspense  as  to  what  fate 
might  immediately  befall,  and  four  times  in  one 
day  the  entire  party  prepared  to  abandon  ship 
at  order.  The  cold  became  extreme,  the  mean 
of  one  week  in  March  being  thirty-one  degrees 
below  zero ;  seal  and  other  fresh  meat  could  be 
got  only  in  small  quantities,  and  scurvy,  the  bane 
of  Arctic  explorers,  affected  all  save  six  of  the 
crew,  DeHaven  being  put  off  duty  by  this  dis- 
ease. In  all  these  terrible  experiences,  which 
were  borne  with  a  fortitude,  courage,  and  pa- 
tience most  creditable,  Kane  was  first  and  fore- 
most in  sustaining  the  heroic  efforts  of  Griffin, 
master  of  the  Rescue,  on  whom  the  executive 
duties  devolved  during  DeHaven's  illness.  It 
may  be  said  that  not  only  Kane's  medical  skill, 
but  also  his  cheeriness,  activity,  and  ingenious 
devices  contributed  largely  to  conserve  the 
health,  spirits,  and  morale  of  the  crew  in  these 
dark  hours  when  despair  seemed  justified. 

Released  from  the  pack,  DeHaven  patched  up 
his  injured  ships  and  attempted  to  return  and 
prosecute  further  the  Franklin  search ;  but, 
stopped  in  his  return  journey  by  ice  in  the 
upper  part  of  Melville  Bay,  he  judiciousl}^  de- 
cided to  return  to  the  United  States,  which 
was  safely  reached  September  30,  1851. 


ELISIIA  KENT  KANE  249 

The  following  extracts  from  Kane's  very  vivid 
account  of  the  expedition  illustrate  some  of  the 
most  striking  phases  of  their  experiences  as  re- 
corded in  his  journal. 

Of  the  conditions  and  experience  of  the  Ad- 
vance in  the  moving  ice-pack  he  says  : 

"  We  were  yet  to  be  familiarized  with  the  strife 
of  the  ice-tables,  now  broken  into  tumbling 
masses  and  piling  themselves  in  angry  confusion 
against  our  sides ;  now  fixed  in  chaotic  disarray 
by  the  fields  of  new  ice  that  imbedded  them  in  a 
single  night ;  again,  perhaps,  opening  in  treach- 
erous pools,  only  to  close  around  us  with  a  force 
that  threatened  to  grind  our  brig  to  powder." 

"  A  level  snow-covered  surface  was  rising  up 
in  inclined  planes  or  rudely  undulating  curves. 
These,  breaking  at  their  summits,  fell  off  on  each 
side  in  masses  of  twenty  tons'  weight.  Tables  of 
six  feet  in  thickness  by  twenty  of  perpendicular 
height,  and  some  of  them  fifteen  yards  in  length, 
surging  up  into  the  misty  air,  heaving,  rolling, 
tottering,  and  falling  with  a  majestic  deliberation 
worthy  of  the  forces  that  impelled  them." 

The  following  descriptions  indicate  the  narrow 
escapes  of  the  ships  from  destruction  during  dis- 
ruptions of  the  ice-pack  : 

"  The  separated  sides  would  come  together 
with  an  explosion  like  a  mortar,  craunching  the 
newly  formed  field  and  driving  it  headlong  in 
fragments  for  fifty  feet  upon  the  floe  till  it  piled 
up  against  our  bulwarks.  Everything  betokened 
a  crisis.  Sledges,  boats,  packages  of  all  sorts 
were  disposed  in  order ;  contingencies  were  met 


250  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

as  they  approached  by  new  delegations  of  duty  ; 
every  man  was  at  work,  officers  and  seamen  aHke. 
The  Rescue,  crippled  and  thrown  away  from  us 
to  the  further  side  of  a  chasm,  was  deserted,  and 
her  company  consolidated  with  ours.  Our  own 
brig  groaned  and  quivered  under  the  pressure 
against  her  sides." 

"  The  ice  came  in  with  the  momentum  before 
mentioned  as  irresistible,  progressive,  and  grand. 
All  expected  to  betake  ourselves  sledgeless  to  the 
ice,  for  the  open  space  around  the  vessel  barely 
admits  of  a  foot-board.  The  timbers  and  even 
cross-beams  protected  by  shores  vibrated  so  as 
to  communicate  to  you  the  peculiar  tremor  of  a 
cotton-factory.  Presently  the  stern  of  the  brig, 
by  a  succession  of  jerking  leaps,  began  to  rise, 
while  her  bows  dipped  toward  the  last  night's  ice 
ahead.  Everybody  looked  to  see  her  fall  upon 
her  beam-ends  and  rushed  out  upon  the  ice." 

"  On  the  13th  the  hummock  ridge  astern  ad- 
vanced with  a  steady  march  upon  the  vessel. 
Twice  it  rested  and  advanced  again — a  dense  wall 
of  ice,  thirty  feet  broad  at  the  base  and  twelve  feet 
high,  tumbling  huge  fragments  from  its  crest,  yet 
increasing  in  mass  at  every  new  effort.  We  had 
ceased  to  hope,  when  a  merciful  interposition  ar- 
rested it,  so  close  against  our  counter  that  there 
was  scarcely  room  for  a  man  to  pass  between. 
Half  a  minute  of  progress  more  and  it  would 
have  buried  us  all.  As  we  drifted  along  five 
months  afterward  this  stupendous  memento  of 
controlling  power  was  still  hanging  over  our 
stern." 


ELISIIA   KENT  KANE 


251 


The  discomfort  of  the  prescribed  out-of-door 
exercise  in  extreme  cold  appears  from  the  fol- 
lowing : 

"  Close  the  lips  for  the  first  minute  or  two  and 


A  Sleeping-bag  for  Three  Men. 


admit  the  air  suspiciously  throu^-h  nostril  and 
mustache.  Presently  you  breathe  in  a  dry, 
pungent  but  gracious  and  agreeable  atmosphere. 
The  beard,  eyebrows,  e3'elashes,  and  the  downy 
pubescence  of  the  ears  acquire  a  delicate  white 


252  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

and  perfectly  enveloped  cover  of  venerable  hoar- 
frost. The  mustache  and  under  lip  form  pendu- 
lous beads  of  dangling  ice.  Put  out  your  tongue 
and  it  instantly  freezes  to  this  icy  crusting,  and  a 
rapid  effort  and  some  hand  aid  will  be  required 
to  liberate  it.  The  less  you  talk  the  better. 
Your  chin  has  a  trick  of  freezing  to  your  upper 
jaw  by  the  luting  aid  of  your  beard  ;  even  my 
eyes  have  often  been  so  glued  as  to  show  that 
even  a  wink  may  be  unsafe." 

The  unfortunate  ph3'sical  condition  of  the 
party  made  Kane's  duties  most  onerous  and 
wearing.     In  mid-winter  he  says  : 

"  Scurvy  advanced  steadily.  This  fearful  dis- 
ease, so  often  warded  off  when  in  a  direct  attack, 
now  exhibited  itself  in  a  cachexy,  a  depraved  con- 
dition of  system  sad  to  encounter.  Pains  diffuse 
and  non-locatable  were  combined  with  an  apathy 
and  lassitude  which  resisted  all  attempts  at  healthy 
excitement.  These,  of  course,  were  not  confined 
to  the  crew  alone :  out  of  twenty-four  men  but 
five  were  without  ulcerated  gums  and  blotched 
limbs.     All  the  officers  were  assailed." 

The  expedition  safe  in  port,  the  recollection  of 
the  horrors  and  privations  of  his  mid-winter 
drift  through  the  polar  pack  did  not  deter 
Kane  from  again  braving  the  danger  of  Arctic 
exploration,  and  he  was  soon  busily  engaged  in 
stimulating  public  opinion  to  the  support  of 
another  expedition.  To  this  end  he  especially 
addressed  the  American  Geographic  Society,  of 
which   Henry  Grinnell  was   president,  present- 


ELISHA  KENT  KANE  253 

ing  a  well-intended  but  fallacious  and  illogical 
plan  for  continuing  the  search  for  Franklin. 

Kane  was  personally  aware,  from  the  experi- 
ences of  his  previous  voyage  with  DeHaven, 
that  Franklin  had  wintered  at  Beechy  Island,  in 
74°  43'  N.,  91°  33'  W.,  and  that  his  positive  orders 
from  the  admiralty  required  him  to  push  south- 
ward from  the  vicinity  of  Cape  Walker  to  Behr- 
ing  Strait.  A  search  for  him  by  the  way  of  Smith 
Sound,  four  degrees  of  latitude  to  the  northward 
and  seventeen  degrees  of  longitude  to  the  east- 
ward of  his  last  known  position,  rested  on  the 
violent  assumption  that  Franklin  had  not  only 
directly  disobeyed  his  positive  orders  to  go 
west  and  southwest,  but  had  done  so  after  one- 
third  of  the  distance  from  Greenland  to  Behring 
Strait  had  been  accomplished. 

Again  there  had  lately  been  made  public  in 
England  the  last  direct  report  from  the  Franklin 
expedition — a  letter  from  Captain  Fitzjames — 
who  relates  that  Franklin  showed  him  part  of 
his  instructions,  expressed  his  disbelief  in  an 
open  sea  to  the  north,  and  gave  "  a  pleasant  ac- 
count of  his  expectations  of  being  able  to  get 
through  the  ice  on  the  coast  of  America."  Dr. 
Rae  had  also  reported  finding  drift  material  on  the 
north  coast  of  America,  which,  having  the  broad 
arrow  and  red  thread  of  the  government,  could 
come  from  the  quarter  where  Franklin's  orders 
sent  him,  thus  confirming  the  belief  that  he  had 
gone  southwest  from  Cape  Walker.  Moreover,the 
squadrons  of  Belcher  and  Collinson  were  actively 
engaged  in  the  search  northward  of  America. 


254  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

It  was  finally  decided  that  a  second  expedition 
should  be  sent,  the  United  States  co-operating, 
as  before,  with  private  enterprise ;  and  to  the 
command  of  this  expedition  Kane  was  assigned, 
by  orders  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  in 
November,  1852.  The  expedition  was  fitted  out 
through  the  liberality  of  two  Americans,  Henry 
Grinnell,  who  again  placed  the  brig  Advance 
at  the  disposal  of  the  government,  and  George 
Peabody,  the  American  philanthropist,  who  con- 
tributed $10,000,  a  sum  that  practically  covered 
all  other  expenses  of  the  voyage. 

Kane's  faith  in  the  existence  of  an  open  polar 
sea  and  his  intention  of  reaching  it  were  clearly 
asserted.  Combined  with  the  proposed  search  for 
Franklin  was  a  declared  purpose  to  extend  north- 
ward the  discoveries  of  Inglefield,  in  185 1,  on  the 
west  coast  of  Greenland,  where,  as  Kane  says, 
he  contemplated  reaching  "  its  most  northern  at- 
tainable point,  and  thence  pressing  on  toward 
the  Pole  as  far  as  boats  or  sledges  could  carry 
us,  examine  the  coast  lines  for  vestiges  of  the 
lost  party." 

The  expedition  sailed  from  New  York  May 
30,  1853,  consisting  of  eighteen  men,  all  volun- 
teers, although  ten  belonged  to  the  United 
States  Navy.  Except  as  regards  scientific  in- 
struments, the  equipment  of  the  expedition  was 
in  most  respects  inadequate  and  unsuitable  for 
Arctic  service,  the  bulk  of  the  provisions,  for  in- 
stance, being  hard  bread,  salt  beef,  and  pork, 
with  no  canned  meats  or  vegetables. 

The    Greenland  ports  were  visited,   where  a 


ELISHA  KENT  KANE  255 

moderate  amount  of  fur  clothing  and  fifty  Es- 
quimau dogs  were  purchased.  On  June  27th  the 
Advance  entered  Melville  Bay,  and  standing 
boldly  to  the  westward,  although  hindered  by 
the  loose  drifting  ice,  was  favored  by  an  off- 
shore gale,  and  in  ten  days  passed  into  the 
open  sea  west  of  Cape  York,  known  to  Arctic 
voyagers  as  the  "  North  Water,"  the  only  mis- 
fortune being  the  loss  of  a  whaleboat.  In  order 
to  secure  retreat  Kane,  fortunately  for  himself  as 
it  afterward  proved,  cached  his  metallic  life-boat, 
filled  with  boat  stores,  on  Littleton  Island.  Fa- 
vored by  the  conditions  of  the  ice  Kane  rounded 
Cape  Hatherton,  when  the  main  pack  setting 
southward  obliged  him  to  seek  shelter  in  Refuge 
Harbor,  a  land-locked  cove.  Later  the  Advance 
was  able,  as  the  ice  opened,  to  make  sail  and  pass 
around  Cairn  Point,  but  a  violent  gale  broke  her 
from  her  moorings  and  nearly  wrecked  her.  The 
ice  conditions  were  now  so  adverse  that  seven  of 
his  eight  officers  addressed  to  him  written  opin- 
ions in  favor  of  a  return  to  a  more  southern  har- 
bor. Such  retrograde  movement  would  have  re- 
moved them  from  the  contemplated  field  of 
operations,  and  Kane  declined.  Every  favorable 
opportunity  of  warping  the  brig — she  could  be 
moved  in  no  other  way — ^was  availed  of,  and  de- 
spite most  difficult  conditions  of  ice  and  water, 
the  brig  being  on  her  beam-ends  at  low  tide  and 
jammed  by  floes  at  high  water,  she  was  moved  a 
number  of  miles  to  the  eastward,  and  on  Septem- 
ber 9th  was  put  into  winter-quarters  in  Rensse- 
laer Harbor,  /S""  2)7'  ^v  7^°  H'  ^V".,  which,  says 


256 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


Kane,  "  we  were  fated  never  to  leave  together — 
a  long  resting-place  to  her,  for  the  same  ice  is 
around  her  still." 

Scarcely  were  they  moored  than  signs  of  com- 
ing winter  crowded  fast  one  after  another ;  the 
flowers  were  blackened  by  frost;  long  lines  of 
flving  water-fowl  trended  southward,  leaving  sol- 


s^*v 


! 


X- 


The   Conning  Arctic   Night. 

itary  the  hardy  snow  -  bird  ;  the  sun  grew  lower 
from  day  to  day  with  startling  rapidity,  and  the 
young  ice  cemented  the  separated  old  floes  into 
one  solid  roadway  for  the  sledgemen.  Kane 
set  about  exploring  the  country  and  travelled 
some  fifty  miles  to  Mar}^  Minturn  River,  whence 
from  adjoining  high  land  he  had  a  view  of 
Washington  land,  the  vicinity  of  Cape  Consti- 
tution.    During   this   journey   he  first  observed 


ELISIIA   KENT  KANE  257 

the  peculiar  ice  formation  now  known  as  the  ice- 
foot, but  then  novel.  It  is  best  described  in  his 
words:  "We  were  on  a  table  or  shelf  of  ice 
which  clung  to  the  base  of  rocks  overlooking 
the  sea,  .  .  .  with  huge  angular  blocks,  some 
many  tons  in  weight,  scattered  over  its  surface." 
Hayes  and  Wilson  travelled  some  fifty  miles  into 
the  interior  till  their  further  progress  was 
stopped  by  the  edge  of  the  inland  ice.  McGary 
and  Bonsall,  with  sledge  party  of  seven,  made 
three  caches  to  the  northeast,  the  farthest  being 
in  79°  12'  N.,  65°  25'  W.,  under  the  face  of  an 
enormous  glacier,  to  which  the  name  of  Hum- 
boldt was  given. 

The  winter  passed  quietly,  the  officers  making 
tidal,  astronomical,  magnetic,  and  meteorological 
observations,  while  the  men,  engaged  in  ordinary 
pursuits,  kept  in  health.  Unfortunately  fifty- 
seven,  nearly  all,  of  the  dogs  died,  thus  depriv- 
ing Kane  of  his  main  reliance  for  field  operations. 
The  extreme  cold — the  mean  temperature  for  De- 
cember to  March,  inclusive,  being  thirty-two 
degrees  below  zero — had  reduced  the  fuel  so 
that  the  allowance  was  three  buckets  a  day. 
Other  supplies  commenced  to  show  their  need 
or  inadequacy  ;  oil  for  lamps  failed,  as  did  fresh 
meat  from  game,  and  unfortunately  there  was 
no  canned  meat,  only  salted. 

Despite  his  loss  of  dogs  Kane  decided  on  lay- 
ing out  new  depots,  and  with  the  advance  of 
March  he  watched  eagerly  the  temperature. 
From  the  loth  to  the  19th  the  cold  averaged  sev- 
enty-six degrees  below  the  freezing-point.  He 
17 


258  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

started  his  man-sledge  on  the  20th,  under  charge 
of  Brooks,  first  officer,  with  seven  others  at  the 
drag-ropes.  Unfortunately  the  equipment  was 
either  somewhat  defective  or  some  of  the  party 
were  inexperienced  in  the  methods  needful  for 
self-preservation  in  such  extreme  cold.  Kane 
gives  no  details  of  the  causes  of  the  calamity  save 
to  say  that  "  a  heavy  gale  from  the  north-north- 
east broke  upon  the  party,  and  the  temperature 
fell  to  fifty-seven  below  zero." 

The  first  news  of  the  disaster  came  from  Son- 
tag,  Ohlsen,  and  Petersen,  who  suddenly  appeared 
in  the  cabin,  at  midnight  of  March  31st,  swollen, 
haggard,  and  hardly  able  to  speak.  Kane  con- 
tinues :  "  They  had  left  their  companions  in  the 
ice,  risking  their  own  lives  to  bring  us  the  news ; 
Brooks,  Baker,  Wilson,  and  Pierre,  were  all  lying 
frozen  and  disabled.  Where  ?  They  could  not 
tell ;  somewhere  among  the  hummocks  to  the 
northeast ;  it  was  drifting  heavily  around  them. 
Irish  Tom  had  stayed  to  care  for  the  others.  It 
was  vain  to  question  them,  for  they  were  sinking 
with  fatigue  and  hunger,  and  could  hardly  be 
raUied  enough  to  tell  us  the  direction." 

Kane  instantly  organized  a  relief  party  of  ten 
men,  which,  despite  his  delicate  physique,  he 
headed  himself.  Taking  Ohlsen,  the  most  ration- 
al of  the  sufferers,  in  a  fur  bag,  and  as  lightly 
equipped  as  was  possible,  the  rescuers  moved  out 
in  a  temperature  seventy-eight  degrees  below 
freezing.  Ohlsen  fell  asleep,  but  on  awakening 
was  of  no  use  as  guide  owing  to  his  delirious 
condition.     Reaching  a  large  level  floe  Kane  put 


ELISHA  KENT  KANE  259 

up  his  tent  and  scattered  his  party  to  find  traces 
of  the  lost  men.  Eighteen  hours  had  now  elapsed 
and  Kane's  own  party  was  in  a  deplorable  state, 
partly  owing  to  the  extreme  cold  and  partly  to 
extreme  nervousness  arising  from  anxiety  and 
sympathy.  He  says  :  "  McGary  and  Bonsall,  who 
had  stood  out  our  severest  marches,  were  seized 
with  trembling  fits  and  short  breath,  and  in  spite 
of  all  my  efforts  I  fainted  twice  on  the  snow." 
Fortunately  Hans,  the  Esquimau,  found  a 
sledge-track  which  led  to  the  camp  in  a  few 
hours,  where  Kane  found  the  four  men  on  their 
backs,  whose  welcome  greeting,  "  We  expected 
you :  we  were  sure  you  would  come,"  proved 
how  great  was  their  confidence  in  their  com- 
mander. The  day  was  extremely  cold  and  most 
providentially  clear  and  sunny,  but  even  with 
these  favoring  conditions  it  was  almost  a  miracle 
that  they  were  able  to  drag  the  frozen  men  to 
the  brig.  "  The  tendency  to  sleep,"  says  Kane, 
"  could  only  be  overcome  by  mechanical  vio- 
lence ;  and  when  at  last  we  got  back  to  the  brig, 
still  dragging  the  wounded  men  instinctively 
behind  us,  there  was  not  one  whose  mind  was 
found  to  be  unimpaired."  Baker  and  Schubert 
died ;  Wilson  and  Brooks  finally  recovered,  los- 
ing, however,  part  of  their  feet  by  amputation. 

Kane  determined  to  lead  the  next  party  him- 
self, and  near  the  end  of  April,  1854,  with  seven 
men  he  attempted  to  lay  down  an  india-rubber 
boat  high  up  on  the  Greenland  coast.  He  had, 
however,  sadly  overrated  the  strength  of  his 
men  and  of   himself.     About  eighty  miles  from 


260 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


the  brig,  near  Dallas  Bay,  one  man  broke  down 
entirely  and  four  others  were  partly  disabled,  and 
their  cache  was  made  at  that  point  with  many 


Esquimau   Boys  Fishing. 

misgivings,  as  bears  had  destroyed  the  stores 
laid  down  the  previous  autumn.  The  troubles 
of  the  party  now  commenced,  for  Kane,  fainting 
while  making  an  observation,  had  to  be  hauled 
back  by  the  disabled  men.     Despite  the  moder- 


ELISUA  KENT  KANE  261 

ate  temperature  Kane's  left  foot  froze,  his  limbs 
became  rigid  and  badly  swollen,  fainting  spells 
were  more  frequent,  and  he  fell  into  alternate 
spells  of  delirium  and  unconsciousness,  in  which 
state  his  broken  -  down  sledge  crew  conveyed 
him  by  forced  marches  to  the  brig,  where,  says 
Hayes,  the  surgeon,  he  arrived  nearly  insensi- 
ble and  so  swollen  by  scurvy  as  to  be  hardly 
recognizable,  and  in  such  a  debilitated  state 
that  an  exposure  of  a  few  more  hours  would 
have  terminated  his  life.  Kane's  wonderful 
recuperative  powers  speedily  restored  him  from 
his  nearly  helpless  condition  to  a  state  of  com- 
parative good  health,  but  he  could  not  conceal 
his  evident  inability  to  personally  attempt  further 
sledge  journeys  that  spring. 

In  this  emergency  he  decided  to  send  his  sur- 
geon. Dr.  I.  I.  Hayes,  to  explore  the  western 
shore  of  Smith's  Strait,  from  Cape  Sabine  north- 
ward, and  for  this  purpose  detailed  Godfrey  with 
the  seven  best  dogs  available. 

The  ice  over  Smith's  Sound  was  extremely 
rough,  so  that  progress  was  slow  and  tedious. 
Finally,  with  his  provisions  nearly  exhausted, 
Hayes  reached  land  in  the  vicinity  of  Dobbin 
Bay  and  made  his  farthest  at  Cape  Hayes,  which, 
according  to  his  observations,  was  in  about  79° 
45'  N.  Hayes  was  stricken  with  snow-blindness ; 
the  journey  was  extremely  exhausting;  Godfrey 
broke  down,  and  the  dogs  were  so  nearly  worn 
out  that  at  the  last  camp  they  abandoned  sleep- 
ing-bags, extra  clothing,  and  everything  except 
arms  and  instruments.     Kane  says  that  both  men 


262  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

were  snow-blind  on  arrival  at  the  brig,  and  the 
doctor,  in  a  state  of  exhaustion,  had  to  be  led  to 
his  bedside  to  make  his  report. 

Impressed  with  Hayes's  success  on  the  west 
shore  of  Smith's  Sound,  Kane  decided  to  send 
Morton  northward  on  the  Greenland  side  so 
as  to  determine  the  extent  of  the  frozen  channel 
seen  by  Hayes  from  his  farthest.  Morton  was 
supported  by  a  sledge  party  of  four  men,  who 
reached  Humboldt  glacier  after  ten  days'  travel, 
and  were  here  joined  by  Esquimau  Hans  with  a 
dog-sledge.  On  the  i8th  the  supporting  party 
turned  homeward,  while  Morton  and  Hans,  with 
a  dog-sledge,  started  northward,  travelling  about 
five  miles  distant  from  and  parallel  with  the 
face  of  Humboldt  glacier. 

On  June  24th  Morton's  northward  progress 
was  stopped  by  very  high,  perpendicular  cliffs 
washed  by  open  water  and  free  from  the  cus- 
tomary ice-foot.  All  efforts  to  pass  around  the 
projecting  cliff,  to  which  the  name  of  Cape  Con- 
stitution was  given,  proved  unavailing.  Morton 
says:  "The  knob  to  which  I  climbed  was  over 
five  hundred  feet  in  height,  and  from  it  not  a 
speck  of  ice  was  to  be  seen  as  far  as  I  could 
observe  ;  the  sea  was  open,  the  swell  came  from 
the  northward,  .  .  .  and  the  surf  broke  in  on 
the  rocks  below  in  regular  breakers." 

Morton,  in  his  report,  described  two  islands 
opposite  Cape  Constitution  ;  Kennedy  Channel 
as  about  thirty  -  five  miles  wide,  running  due 
north  and  having  an  unbroken  mountainous  land 
along   its   western    limits.     Twenty    miles,   esti- 


ELISUA  KENT  KANE  263 

mated,  due  south  of  Cape  Constitution,  Morton 
made  the  latitude,  by  meridian  altitude  of  the 
sun,  80°  41'  N.,  which  by  dead  reckoning  made 
the  cape  81°  i'.  Kane  gives  its  latitude,  cor- 
rected by  triangulation,  as  81°  22'  N. 

These  discoveries,  strengthening  Kane's  belief 
in  an  open  polar  sea,  caused  him  to  put  forth  on 
his  return  such  statements  and  generalizations  as 
drew  forth  sharp  criticisms,  wherein  the  correct- 
ness and  value  of  all  the  field  work  of  his  expe- 
dition were  impugned. 

It  would  be  most  gratifying  to  Americans  if 
adverse  criticisms  as  to  distances  travelled  and 
astronomical  positions  determined  could  be  re- 
futed. It  is,  however,  a  matter  of  fact,  not  of 
opinion,  that  nearly  all  the  given  latitudes  are 
much  too  far  to  the  north,  while  no  considerable 
distance  was  travelled  which  was  not  overesti- 
mated from  fifty  to  one  hundred  percent.  These 
blemishes  on  Kane's  great  work  doubtless  arose 
from  two  causes :  first,  his  implicit  confidence  in 
the  ability  and  accuracy  of  his  subordinates,  and, 
second,  to  his  poetic  temperament,  which  trans- 
formed into  beauty  the  common  things  of  life 
and  enhanced  their  interest  by  striking  con- 
trasts of  high  lights  and  deep  shadows. 

Subsequent  expeditions  have  surveyed  and 
charted  Kennedy  Channel  with  an  accuracy 
leaving  little  to  be  desired,  and  as  a  result  it  is 
now  known  that  the  open  "  sea  "  seen  by  Morton 
was  simply  the  ice-free  water  of  the  southern 
half  of  Kennedy  Channel,  which  condition  ob- 
tains during  a  great  part  of  each  year.     The  de- 


264 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


scriptions.of  the  region  by  Morton  in  his  report, 
though  simple,  are  yet  so  accurate  and  free  from 


An  Arc-tic  Stream. 


exaggeration  as  to  prove  conclusively  his  entire 
honesty.  When,  however,  his  astronomical  obser- 
vations and  estimates  of  distances  are  considered. 


ELI8IIA  KENT  KANE  205 

Morton's  incompetency  is  apparent,  as  they  arc, 
in  common  with  most  of  the  other  field  work, 
erroneous  and  misleading-.  The  latitude  of  Cape 
Constitution  was  overstated  fifty-two  geographic 
miles  by  Kane  and  thirty-one  miles  by  Morton, 
while  Kennedy  Channel,  instead  of  being  thirty- 
five  miles  wide,  ranges  only  from  seventeen  to 
twenty-five.  The  farthest  mountain  seen  was 
Mount  Ross,  on  the  north  side  of  Carl  Ritter 
Bay,  about  80°  58'  N.,  more  than  ninety  miles  to 
the  southward  of  its  assumed  position.  Kane's 
personal  knowledge  of  Morton's  honesty  was 
so  complete  that  he  placed  equal  confidence  in 
his  ability  and  accuracy,  an  error  of  judgment 
arising  largely  from  Kane's  great  affection  for 
his  subordinate. 

In  the  meantime  the  Etah  Esquimaux,  most 
fortunately  for  Kane,  had  discovered  and  visited 
the  Advance,  and  through  their  friendly  offices 
the  expedition  profited  largely. 

The  summer  of  1854  disclosed  the  error  of 
wintering  in  Rensselaer  Harbor,  for  it  passed 
without  freeing  the  brig  from  ice.  The  situation, 
Kane  relates,  was  most  unpromising,  and  near 
the  middle  of  July  he  determined  on  a  desperate 
attempt  to  communicate  with  the  English  expe- 
ditionary vessels  supposed  to  be  at  Beechy  Isl- 
and, several  hundred  miles  to  the  southwest. 
Kane  with  five  others  started  in  a  whaleboat, 
but  owing  to  the  bad  ice  returned  unsuccessful 
after  an  absence  of  eighteen  days. 

On  August  1 8th  Kane  regards  it  as  an  obvious 
fact  that  they  must  look  another  winter  in  the 


266  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

face,  and  says  :  "  It  is  horrible — yes,  that  is  the 
word — to  look  forward  to  another  year  of  disease 
and  darkness  to  be  met  without  fresh  food  or 
fuel.  The  physical  energies  of  the  party  have 
sensibly  declined ;  resources  are  diminished ; 
there  are  but  fifty  gallons  of  oil  saved  from  the 
summer  seal  hunt ;  we  are  scant  of  fuel ;  our  food 
consists  now  of  ordinary  marine  stores  and  is  by 
no  means  suited  to  dispel  scurvy  ;  our  molasses  is 
reduced  to  forty  gallons  and  our  dried  fruits 
seem  to  have  lost  their  efficiency." 

Under  these  discouraging  circumstances  came 
the  most  trying  experiences  of  the  expedition. 
The  majority  of  the  party  entertained  the  idea 
that  escape  to  the  south  by  boats  was  still  practi- 
cable despite  the  lateness  of  the  summer,  although 
Kane's  own  experience  in  the  previous  month 
had  shown  the  futility  of  such  an  effort.  Con- 
scious, however,  that  he  could  control  only  by 
moral  influence  the  majority  who  were  of  this 
opinion,  he  decided  to  appeal  to  them.  On  Au- 
gust 24th  he  assembled  the  entire  crew,  set  forth 
eloquently  that  such  an  effort  must  be  exceed- 
ingly hazardous,  escape  southward  almost  im- 
probable, and  strongly  advised  them  to  forego  the 
project.  However,  he  ended  by  freely  accord- 
ing his  permission  to  such  as  were  desirous  of 
making  the  attempt,  provided  that  they  would  or- 
ganize under  an  officer  before  starting  and  re- 
nounce in  writing  all  claims  upon  the  expedition. 
Nine  out  of  the  seventeen,  headed  by  Petersen, 
the  Danish  interpreter,  and  Dr.  Hayes,  the  sur- 
geon, decided  to  attempt  the  boat  journey  and 


ELISHA  KENT  KANE  267 

left  the  vessel  August  28th.  Kane  fitted  them  out 
liberally,  provided  every  possible  appliance  to 
facilitate  and  promote  their  success,  and  gave 
them  a  written  assurance  of  a  hearty  welcome 
should  they  be  driven  to  return.  One  of  the  party, 
Riley,  rejoined  Kane  within  a  few  da3-s,  and  well 
into  the  Arctic  winter,  on  December  7th,  Bon- 
sall  and  Petersen  returned  through  the  aid  of  the 
Esquimaux.  The}'  reported  to  Kane  that  their 
associates  were  some  two  hundred  miles  distant, 
their  energies  broken,  provisions  nearly  gone, 
divided  in  their  counsel,  and  desirous  of  return- 
ing to  share  again  the  fortunes  of  the  Ad- 
vance. Kane  immediately  sent  supplies  to  the 
suffering  party  by  the  natives,  and  took  active 
measures  to  facilitate  their  return,  and  on  De- 
cember 1 2th  had  the  great  joy  of  seeing  the  en- 
tire expedition  reunited.  In  this  connection  Kane 
properly  notes  the  humane  actions  of  the  Esqui- 
maux, saying :  "  Whatever  may  have  been  their 
motives,  their  conduct  to  our  friends  was  cer- 
tainly full  of  humanity.  They  drove  at  flying 
speed  ;  every  hut  gave  its  welcome  as  they  halt- 
ed ;  the  women  were  ready  without  invitation 
to  dry  and  chafe  their  worn-out  guests." 

Kane,  it  may  be  added,  did  not  allude  in  his 
official  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  to 
this  temporary  division  of  his  command,  which, 
however,  is  told,  both  in  his  own  narrative  and 
in  that  of  Dr.  Hayes,  in  his  **  Arctic  Boat  Jour- 
ney." 

As  winter  went  on  they  hunted  unavailingly 
for  game,  and  the  abundant  supplies  hitherto  ob- 


268  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

tained  from  the  Etah  Esquimaux  failed,  owing 
to  the  unfavorable  ice  conditions,  which  caused 
a  famine  among  the  natives  and  reduced  them 
to  the  lowest  stages  of  misery  and  emaciation. 
Scurvy  with  its  varying  phases  also  sapped  the 
energies  of  the  crew,  while  Hayes  was  disa- 
bled from  amputation  of  a  portion  of  his  frozen 
foot. 

When  practically  the  entire  crew  must  be  said 
to  have  been  on  the  sick-list,  Blake  and  Godfrey 
decided  to  desert  and  take  their  chances  with  the 
Esquimaux.  The  plan  being  detected  by  Kane, 
Blake  remained,  but  Godfrey  deserted,  and  with 
Hans,  the  Esquimau,  remained  absent  nearly  a 
month.  Godfrey,  however,  contributed  to  the 
support  of  the  expedition  by  sending  supplies  of 
meat,  and  later  returned  under  duress. 

With  the  returning  spring  of  1855  the  necessity 
of  abandoning  the  brig  was  apparent  to  all ;  the 
ship  was  practically  little  more  than  a  shell,  as 
everything  that  could  possibly  be  used  without 
making  her  completely  unseaworthy  had  been 
consumed  for  fire -wood.  There  remained  in 
April  only  a  few  weeks'  supply  of  food  and  fuel, 
while  the  solidity  of  the  ice  in  the  vicinity  of 
Rensselaer  Harbor  indicated  the  impossibility  of 
an  escape  by  vessel.  It  was  no  slight  task  to 
mov^e  the  necessary  stock  of  provisions  and  stores 
to  their  boats  and  to  the  open  water  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Cape  Alexander.  This  was,  however,  safe- 
ly accomplished  by  the  middle  of  June,  the  ves- 
sel having  been  formally  abandoned  on  May  17th. 
The  final  casualty   in  the  party  occurred  near 


ELISHA  KENT  KANE  269 

Littleton  Island,  when  Ohlsen,  in  a  tremendous 
and  successful  effort  to  save  a  loaded  sledge  from 
loss  in  broken  ice,  so  injured  himself  internally 
that  he  died  within  three  days.  During  this  re- 
treating journey  Kane  records  the  invaluable  as- 
sistance of  the  Esquimaux,  who  "  brought  daily 
supplies  of  birds,  assisted  in  carrying  boat-stores, 
and  invariably  exhibited  the  kindliest  feelings  and 
strictest  honesty."  Leaving  Cape  Alexander  on 
June  15,  1854,  Cape  York  was  passed  on  July 
2 1  St,  and,  crossing  Melville  Bay  along  the  margin 
of  its  land  ice  in  five  days,  Kane  reached  the 
north  coast  of  Greenland  on  August  3d,  forty- 
seven  days  from  Cape  Alexander. 

At  Disco  the  party  met  Lieutenant  Hartstene, 
whose  squadron,  sent  to  relieve  Kane,  had  al- 
ready visited  Cape  Alexander,  and  learning  from 
the  natives  of  Kane's  retreat  by  boat  to  the 
south  turned  promptly  back  to  the  Greenland 
ports.  Surrounded  by  all  the  comforts  and  lux- 
uries which  the  means  or  thoughtfulness  of  their 
rescuing  comrades  of  the  navy  could  furnish, 
Kane  and  his  men  made  a  happy  journey  south- 
ward to  meet  the  grand  ovation  that  greeted 
them  from  their  appreciative  countrymen  in 
New  York,  on  October  11,  1855. 

Neither  the  anxiety  of  countless  friends  nor 
the  skill  of  his  professional  brethren  could  long 
preserve  to  his  family,  to  the  navy,  and  to  the 
country  the  ebbing  life  of  the  gallant  Kane.  The 
disease  which  for  twenty  years  had  threatened 
his  life  now  progressed  with  rapidity,  and  on 
February  16,  1857,  he  died  at  Havana,  Cuba. 


270  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

No  single  Arctic  expedition  of  his  generation 
added  so  greatly  to  the  knowledge  of  the  world 
as  did  that  of  Kane's.  In  ethnology  it  contrib- 
uted the  first  full  account  of  the  northernmost 
inhabitants  of  the  world,  the  Etah  Esquimaux ;  in 
natural  history  it  supplied  extensive  and  inter- 
esting information  as  to  the  flora  and  fauna  of 
extreme  western  Greenland,  especially  valuable 
from  its  isolation  by  the  surrounding  inland  ice ; 
in  physical  sciences  the  magnetic,  meteorologi- 
cal, tidal,  and  glacier  observations  were  extreme- 
ly valuable  contributions  ;  in  geography  it  ex- 
tended to  a  higher  northerly  point  than  ever 
before  a  knowledge  of  polar  lands,  and  it  opened 
up  a  practical  and  safe  route  for  Arctic  explora- 
tion which  has  been  more  persistently  and  suc- 
cessfully extended  poleward  than  any  other. 

Of  Kane's  conduct  under  the  exceptionally 
prolonged  and  adverse  circumstances  attendant 
on  his  second  Arctic  voyage,  it  is  to  be  said  that 
he  displayed  the  characteristics  of  a  high  and 
noble  character.  Considerate  of  his  subordinates, 
assiduous  in  performing  his  multifarious  duties 
as  commander,  studying  ever  to  alleviate  the 
mental  and  physical  ailments  of  his  crew,  and  al- 
ways unsparing  of  himself  whenever  exposure  to 
danger,  hardships,  or  privations  promised  definite 
results.  It  is  not  astonishing  that  these  qualities 
won  and  charmed  all  his  associates,  equals  or 
subordinates,  and  that  they  followed  him  unhesi- 
tatingly into  the  perils  and  dangers  that  Kane's 
enthusiastic  and  optimistic  nature  led  him  to 
brave,  with  the  belief  that  to  will  was  to  do. 


ELISHA  KENT  KANE  271 

The  career  of  Kane  cannot  be  more  beautifully 
and  truthfully  summarized  than  was  done  in  the 
funeral  sermon  over  his  bier :  "  He  has  traversed 
the  planet  in  its  most  inaccessible  places;  has 
gathered  here  and  there  a  laurel  from  every 
walk  of  physical  research  in  which  he  strayed  , 
has  gone  into  the  thick  of  perilous  adventure, 
abstracting  in  the  spirit  of  philosophy,  yet  seeing 
in  the  spirit  of  poesy  ;  has  returned  to  invest  the 
very  story  of  his  escape  with  the  charms  of  litera- 
ture and  art,  and  dying  at  length  in  the  morning 
of  his  fame,  is  now  lamented  with  mingled  affec- 
tion and  pride  by  his  country  and  the  world." 


X. 

ISAAC  ISRAEL  HAYES, 

And   The  Open   Polar  Sea. 

History  affords  many  examples  wherein 
neither  the  originator  nor  the  early  advocate  of 
a  striking  idea  has  reaped  fame  therefrom,  and 
their  names  give  way  to  some  persistent,  tireless 
worker  who  forces  the  subject  on  public  atten- 
tion by  his  ceaseless  efforts.  Among  Arctic  the- 
ories none  has  more  fully  occupied  and  interested 
the  mind  of  the  general  public  than  that  of  an 
open,  navigable  sea  in  the  polar  regions.  In 
connection  with  this  theory  the  minds  of  Ameri- 
cans turn  naturally  to  Dr.  I,  I.  Hayes,  who,  not 
the  originator,  inherited  his  belief  therein  from 
the  well-known  Professor  Maury,  through  the 
mediation  of  Kane,  Hayes's  Arctic  commander. 
DeHaven  thought  he  saw  signs  of  Maury's  ice- 
free  sea  to  the  northward  of  Wellington  Strait, 
Kane  through  Morton  found  it  at  Cape  Consti- 
tution, Hayes  recognized  it  a  few  miles  farther 
up  Kennedy  Channel,  but  Markham  turned  it 
into  a  frozen  sea  in  83°  20'  N.  latitude,  and  Lock- 
wood,  from  Cape  Kane,  on  the  most  northerly 
land  of  all  time,  rolled  the  frozen  waste  yet  to 
the  north,  beyond  the  eighty-fourth  parallel,  to 


ISAAC  ISRAEL  HAYES 


273 


within  some  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  the 
geographical  Pole. 

Isaac  Israel  Hayes  was  born  in  Chester  County, 
Pa.,  March  5,  1832.     He  gained  the  title  of  doc- 


.  Isaac   Israel   Hayes. 

tor  by  graduation  in  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  1853,  in  which  year,  at  twenty-four 
hours'  notice,  he  accepted  the  appointment,  pro- 
cured his  outfit,  and  sailed  as  surgeon  of  Kane's 
Arctic  expedition.  An  account  of  this  vo3^agc 
appears  in  the  sketch  of  Dr.  Kane,  but  some  fur- 
18 


274  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

ther  reference  to  it  is  now  necessary.  Hayes,  it 
will  be  remembered,  was  the  surgeon,  a  position 
which  exempted  him  from  field-work.  How- 
ever, when  Kane  and  others  broke  down,  Hayes 
volunteered,  and  was  sent  with  Godfrey,  a  sea- 
man, and  a  team  of  seven  dogs  to  explore  the 
west  coast  of  Smith  Sound.  The  journey  lasted 
from  May  20  to  June  i,  1853,  and,  all  things 
considered,  such  as  defective  equipment,  rough 
ice,  and  attacks  of  snow-blindness,  the  results 
were  unusually  creditable. 

The  rough  ice  travelled  over  is  thus  described 
by  Hayes  :  "  We  were  brought  to  a  halt  by  a 
wall  of  broken  ice  ranging  from  five  to  thirty  feet 
in  height.  .  .  .  We  had  not  a  foot  of  level 
travelling.  Huge  masses  of  ice  from  twenty  to 
forty  feet  in  height  were  heaped  together;  in 
crossing  these  ridges  our  sledge  would  frequent- 
ly capsize  and  roll  over  and  over — dogs,  cargo, 
and  all."  Hayes  finally  reached  land  on  May 
27th,  at  a  bluffy  headland  "  to  the  north  and  east 
of  a  little  (Dobbin)  bay,  which  seemed  to  termi- 
nate about  ten  miles  inland."  This  point,  called 
later  Cape  Hayes,  was  placed  by  him  by  obser- 
vations in  79°  42'  N.,  71°  17'  W.  From  his  farthest 
Hayes  mentions  the  sea-floe  as  continuing  in  a 
less  rough  condition  to  the  northward,  and  cor- 
rectly describes  the  interior  of  Grinnell  Land  as 
a  great  mountain-chain  following  the  trend  of 
the  coast. 

His  broken  sledge  and  nearly  exhausted  pro- 
visions obliged  Hayes  to  return,  and  in  so  doing 
he  crossed  Dobbin  Bay  to,  and  passed  under  the 


ISAAC  ISRAEL  HAYES  275 

shadow  of,  the  noble  headland  of  Cape  Hawks, 
where  they  gave  their  dogs  the  last  scrap  of 
pemican.  Hayes  resolved  to  here  abandon  all 
his  extra  clothing,  sleeping-bags,  etc.,  some  forty 
pounds,  a  rash  act,  as  they  must  have  been  be- 
tween sixty  and  seventy  miles  from  the  brig,  and 
in  case  of  a  storm  would  have  perished.  The 
first  day's  return  journey  the  dogs  were  fed  with 
seal-skin,  from  old  boots,  and  a  little  lamp-lard, 
and  the  day  following  with  bread  crumbs,  lard 
scrapings,  and  seal-skin  off  mittens  and  trousers. 
The  travellers  got  scanty  rest,  dozing  in  the  sun 
on  the  sledge,  and  finally  reached  Rensselaer 
Harbor  snow-blind  and  utterly  exhausted. 

Hayes  was  thus  the  first  white  man  to  put 
foot  on  the  new  land,  to  which  Kane  affixed  the 
name  of  Grinnell.  It  is  impossible  to  understand 
Kane's  failure  to  properly  recognize  this  success- 
ful and  arduous  journey  of  Hayes,  and  one  looks 
in  vain  for  confirmation  of  Kane's  claim  that  he 
"  renewed  and  confirmed,"  in  April,  1854,  the 
work  of  Hayes  and  Godfrey,  for  his  own  ac- 
count shows  that  Kane's  April  journey  failed 
completely  to  reach  Grinnell  Land. 

Two  months  after  his  journey  to  Grinnell 
Land,  Hayes  was  called  on  to  decide  whether  he 
would  remain  with  Kane  at  Rensselaer  Harbor, 
where  the  unbroken  ice  plainly  claimed  the  brig 
Advance  as  its  own  for  another  year,  sharing 
the  hardships  and  dangers  of  a  second  Arctic 
winter,  or,  fleeing  south  without  his  commander, 
seek  safety  and  shelter  through  a  boat  journey 
down   Smith  Sound,  and  across  Melville  Bay,  to 


276 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


the  northern  Danish  settlement,  Upernivik,  in 
Greenland.  Hayes,  unfortunately  for  his  repu- 
tation, yielded  to  the  majority,  and  nine  of  the 
party,  headed  by  Petersen,  Sontag,  and  Hayes, 
decided  to  go,  while  only  six  white  men  and  Es- 
quimau Hans  remained.    It  is  true  that  Kane  had 


only  two  weeks  before  returned  from  an  unsuc- 
cessful attempt  to  reach  Beechy  Island,  as  diffi- 
cult a  task  as  the  voyage  to  Upernivik,  which  he 
had  quitted  his  brig  to  lead  in  person  ;  but  such 
action  should  not  have  been  viewed  as  a  justi- 
fication for  again  separating  the  party. 

Hayes  alleges  in  extenuation  that  Kane  had 


ISAAC  ISRAEL  HAYES  277 

previously  announced  to  the  crew  that  their 
labors  would  thereafter  be  directed  homeward, 
that  the  attempted  journey  to  Beechy  Island  was 
solely  to  procure  aid,  that  the  "  boat  journey  " 
simply  changed  the  direction  of  their  efforts, 
save  that  it  was  led  by  Petersen  and  not  by 
Kane.  Further,  that  the  departure  of  the  major- 
ity of  the  crew  would  give  augmented  health- 
conditions,  space,  and  food  to  those  who  re- 
mained. 

Accepting  Kane's  permission,  freely  accorded, 
as  he  says,  to  make  the  boat  journey,  liberally 
equipped  with  such  supplies  as  the  brig  had,  and 
assured  of  a  hearty  welcome  should  they  return, 
the  boat  party  left  Rensselaer  Harbor,  August 
28,  1853,  confident  of  its  ability  to  succeed. 

Sudden  cold,  sledging  accidents,  and  bad  ice 
soon  caused  Riley  to  return  to  the  brig;  but 
despite  sea-soaked  bedding,  injured  limbs,  and 
exhausting  labor,  the  rest  of  the  boat  party  perse- 
vered with  sledge  to  the  open  water,  and,  launch- 
ing their  whaleboat,  proceeded  rapidly  till  a 
closed  ice-pack  stopped  them  at  Littleton  Island. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  detail  despairing  delays  or 
delusive  hopes  which  changing  conditions  of  ice 
and  weather  alternately  aroused,  during  their 
southward  journey,  nor.  to  recite  the  hardships 
and  perils  arising  from  violent  gales,  drifting 
snow,  the  disruption  and  closing  of  the  pack,  the 
severe  cold  of  a  rapidly  advancing  winter,  their 
lack  of  shelter  and  insufficiency  of  proper  food. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that,  confronted  by  impassable 
ice-floes,  they  were  finally  forced,  with  damaged 


278  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

boat,  depleted  supplies,  and  impaired  strength, 
to  establish  winter  quarters  south  of  Cape  Par- 
r}',  midway  between  Whale  and  Wostenholme 
Sounds. 

The  preservation  of  stores,  construction  of 
shelter,  and  accumulation  of  means  of  subsist- 
ence now  engrossed  their  entire  energies.  The 
construction  of  a  hut,  although  facilitated  by  a 
rocky  cavern,  proved  to  be  exhausting  in  the  ex- 
treme from  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  material 
from  the  frozen  soil.  Their  most  skilful  hunters 
kept  the  field  continually,  but  game  failed,  and 
from  day  to  day  food  supply  diminished  with,  to 
them,  startling  rapidity.  Eventually  reduced  to 
the  verge  of  starvation,  they  would  have  perished 
but  for  food  obtained  from  the  Esquimaux,  which, 
though  scanty  and  irregular,  yet  sustained  life. 

Affairs  went  from  bad  to  worse,  and  with  the  in- 
creasing cold  and  diminishing  light  of  December 
it  was  decided  that  they  must  either  perish  or 
return  to  the  brig ;  either  alternative  had  its  ad- 
vocates. To  decide  was  to  act.  Petersen  ne- 
gotiated with  the  Esquimaux,  and  by  judicious 
admixture  of  persuasion,  command,  and  force, 
succeeded  in  having  the  entire  boat  party  trans- 
ported by  sledge  to  the  Advance,  where  they 
were  received  with  fraternal  kindness.  Hayes 
relates,  ''  Dr.  Kane  met  us  at  the  gangway  and 
grasped  me  warmly  by  the  hand.  .  .  .  Ohl- 
sen  folded  me  in  his  arms,  and,  kissing  me,  threw 
me  into  his  warm  bed." 

The  boat  journey  to  Upernivik,  which  proved 
dangerous  and  impracticable  to  his  small  party 


ISAAC  ISRAEL  HAYES  279 

in  advancing  winter,  proved,  with  the  returning 
summer  of  1855,  not  difficult  to  the  reunited 
party  of  Kane,  and  so  ended  the  boat  journey  of 
Hayes  and  his  first  Arctic  service. 

The  loss  of  a  portion  of  his  foot,  extreme  suf- 
ferings from  exposure,  and  his  great  privations 
in  the  Kane  expedition  failed  to  abate  Hayes's 
enthusiasm  in  Arctic  exploration.  Immediately 
on  his  return  to  the  United  States,  in  October, 
1855,  he  advocated  a  second  expedition,  with  the 
object  of  completing  the  survey  of  the  north 
coast  of  Greenland  and  Grinnell  Land,  and  to 
make  explorations  toward  the  North  Pole.  His 
strenuous  efforts  to  excite  public  interest  failed 
at  first ;  but  Hayes  devoted  himself  to  lecturing 
on  Arctic  subjects,  and  finally  enlisted  in  his  sup- 
port most  of  the  scientific  societies  of  the  coun- 
try. The  advocacy  of  Professors  Bache  and 
Henry,  and  the  support  of  Grinnell,  gave  an  im- 
pulse which  finally  resulted  in  the  organization 
of  an  expedition,  under  Hayes's  command,  and 
on  July  6,  i860,  he  left  Boston  on  the  sailing 
schooner  United  States,  with  a  crew  of  fourteen. 

It  is  not  needful  to  dwell  on  his  outward  voy- 
age farther  than  to  say  that,  in  addition  to  the 
complement  of  dogs  and  stock  of  furs  usually 
obtained  in  Greenland,  Hayes  there  recruited 
dog-drivers,  interpreters,  and  hunters.  At  Cape 
York  he  also  added  Hans  Hendrik,  Kane's  dog- 
driver,  who,  smitten  with  the  dusky  charms  of 
the  daughter  of  Shang-hu,  had  chosen  to  remain 
with  the  Etah   Esquimaux  rather  than  return  to 


280  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

Danish  Greenland  with  the  Kane  retreating 
party  in  1855.  Now,  five  years  later,  he  showed 
an  equal  willingness  to  quit  his  adopted  tribe  for 
expeditionary  purposes. 

Profiting  by  the  experience  of  his  predecessor, 
Hayes  was  unwilling  to  push  a  sailing  vessel 
northward  into  Kane's  Basin,  beyond  the  seven- 
ty-eighth parallel,  and  wisely  decided  to  establish 


Hayes's  Winter-Quarters. 

his  winter-quarters  in  Foulke  Fiord,  near  Little- 
ton Island,  twenty  miles  to  the  south,  and  about 
forty  miles  west,  of  Kane's  quarters.  Game 
proved  abundant  both  at  sea  and  on  land,  pleas- 
ant relations  were  established  with  their  neigh- 
bors, the  Etah  Esquimaux,  an  observatory  built, 
and  scientific  observations  inaugurated.  Indeed 
everything  looked  most  promising  for  the  future. 
An  autumnal  journey  of  special  interest  was 
Hayes's  visit  to  "  My   Brother  John   Glacier," 


ISAAC  ISRAEL  HAYES  281 

near  Port  Foulke,  which,  up  to  that  time,  was  the 
most  northerly  and  one  of  the  most  successful 
attempts  to  penetrate  the  glacier-covering  of 
Greenland,  known  commonly  as  the  ''  Inland 
Ice."  With  seven  men  he  penetrated  some  forty 
miles  or  more  on  the  ice,  when  the  temperature, 
sinking  to  thirty-four  degrees  below  zero,  with 
wind,  compelled  their  immediate  return.  The 
ice  changed  graduall}^,  as  they  went  inland,  from 
rough  to  smooth,  and  the  angle  of  rise  decreased 
from  six  to  two  degrees  at  their  highest,  over 
five  thousand  feet.  A  snow-storm  broke  on  them, 
and,  as  Hayes  describes,  "  fitful  clouds  swept 
over  the  face  of  the  full-orbed  moon,  which, 
descending  toward  the  horizon,  glimmered 
through  the  drifting  snow  that  hurled  out  of 
the  illimitable  distance,  and  scudded  over  the 
icy  plains—to  the  eye,  in  undulating  lines  of 
downy  softness  ;  to  the  flesh,  in  showers  of  pierc- 
ing darts." 

Suddenly  misfortunes  came  on  them.  Peter, 
an  Esquimau  dog-driver,  brought  from  Uperni- 
vik,  deserted.  Hans  Hendrik,  in  his  interesting 
"  Memoirs,"  says  :  "  In  the  beginning  of  the  win- 
ter Peter  turned  a  Kivigtok,  that  is,  filed  from 
human  society  to  live  alone  up  the  country.  We 
were  unable  to  make  out  what  might  have  in- 
duced him  to  do  so.  Searching  for  him,  at  last 
I  found  his  footprints  going  to  the  hills."  The 
poor  native  was  never  seen  alive,  but  it  eventu- 
ally transpired  that  he  sought  shelter  in  a  re- 
mote and  rarely  visited  Esquimau  hut,  where 
he  died  of  starvation,  his  body  being  found  in  a 


282  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

very  emaciated  condition  by  an  Etah  native  the 
following  spring. 

Next  the  dogs  began  to  die  of  distemper, 
which  led  up  to  the  death  of  Sontag,  the  astron- 
omer. By  the  21st  of  December  only  nine  re- 
mained of  thirty  fine  dogs,  and  in  this  contin- 
gency it  was  decided  to  open  up  communication 
with  the  Esquimaux  of  Whale  Sound,  some  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  the  south,  for  the  pur- 
chase of  dogs.  For  this  journey  Sontag  volun- 
teered, and  with  him  went  Hans  as  dog-driver. 
Hayes  waited  week  after  week,  but  no  news 
came  from  either  Sontag  or  Hans.  Then  feel- 
ings of  uneasiness  gave  place  to  alarm  and  fear  ; 
for  a  journey  of  Dodge,  first  mate,  proved  that 
the  travellers  had  gone  outside  Cape  Alexander, 
where  the  floe  had  broken,  so  that  possibly  they 
had  been  lost  on  drifting  ice.  Hayes  was  pro- 
jecting a  personal  search  on  January  29th,  when 
two  Esquimaux  visited  the  ship  and  reported  that 
Sontag  was  dead.  They  proved  to  be  advance- 
coui-iers  of  Hans,  who  arrived  a  few  days  later, 
with  only  five  of  his  nine  dogs  remaining. 

In  his  "  Memoirs  "  Hans  relates  as  follows :  "  It 
still  blew  a  gale  and  the  snow  drifting  dreadful- 
ly, for  which  reason  we  resolved  to  return.  .  .  . 
The  ice  began  breaking  up,  so  we  were  forced  to 
go  ashore  and  continue  our  drive  over  the  ice- 
foot. At  one  place  the  land  became  impassable, 
and  we  were  obliged  to  return  to  the  ice  again. 
On  descending  here  my  companion  (Sontag)  fell 
through  the  ice,  which  was  nothing  but  a  thick 
sheet  of  snow  and  water.    I  stooped,  but  was  un- 


ISAAC  ISRAEL  HATES  283 

able  to  seize  him,  it  being  very  low  tide.  As  a 
last  resort  I  remembered  a  strap  hanging  on  the 
sledge-poles ;  this  I  threw  to  him,  and  when  he 
had  tied  it  around  his  body  I  pulled,  but  found 
it  very  difficult.  At  length  I  succeeded  in  draw- 
ing him  up,  but  he  was  at  the  point  of  freezing 
to  death,  and  now  in  the  storm  and  drifting 
snow  he  took  off  his  clothes  and  slipped  into  the 
sleeping-bag,  whereupon  I  placed  him  on  the 
sledge  and  repaired  to  our  last  resting-place. 
Our  road  being  very  rough,  I  cried  for  despair 
from  want  of  help  ;  but  I  reached  the  snow-hut." 
He  recites  that  Sontag  remained  unconscious  to 
his  death,  and  that  the  breaking  up  of  the  ice 
around  Cape  Alexander,  confirmed  by  Dodge's 
journey,  prevented  his  return  to  the  ship  at  that 
time.  There  was  much  talk  about  Sontag's 
death,  but  Hans's  account  is  doubtless  correct. 

Sontag  was  the  only  trained  scientific  observer 
in  the  party  ;  and  in  addition,  from  his  skill,  ex- 
perience, and  enthusiasm  in  Arctic  work,  was 
almost  indispensable  to  Hayes.  His  death  was 
a  great  blow  to  the  party,  socially  as  well  as 
professionally. 

In  early  spring  Hayes  succeeded  in  obtaining 
the  co-operation  of  the  Etah  Esquimaux  in  sledg- 
ing, and  in  a  preliminary  journey  visited  his  old 
winter-quarters,  where  he  had  served  with  Kane 
six  years  before.  Where  they  had  abandoned  the 
Advance,  surrounded  by  the  solid  pack,  he  found 
ice  nearly  as  high  as  were  her  mastheads ;  no 
vestige  of  the  vessel  remained  except  a  bit  of 
plank,  and  its  fate  was  a  matter  of  conjecture, 


284  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

though  little  doubt  exists  that  she  was  ultimate- 
ly crushed  by  the  disruption  of  the  pack  during 
some  violent  gale.  It  was  during  this  journey 
that  Hayes  experienced  an  intense  degree  of 
cold.  Stating  that  the  thermometer  which  hung 
inside  the  hut  against  the  snow-wall  indicated 
thirty-one  degrees  below  zero,  Hayes  says :  "  We 
crawled  out  in  the  open  air  to  try  the  sunshine. 
'  I  will  give  you  the  best  buffalo  skin  in  the  ship, 
Jansen,  if  the  air  outside  is  not  warmer  than  in 
that  den  which  you  have  left  so  full  of  holes.' 
And  it  really  seemed  so.  Human  eye  never  lit 
upon  a  more  pure  and  glowing  morning.  The 
sunlight  was  sparkling  all  over  the  landscape 
and  the  great  world  of  whiteness ;  and  the  frozen 
plain,  the  hummocks,  the  icebergs,  and  the  tall 
mountains  made  a  picture  inviting  to  the  eye. 
Not  a  breath  of  air  was  stirring.  Jansen  gave  in 
without  a  murmur.  I  brought  out  the  thermom- 
eter and  set  it  up  in  the  shadow  of  an  iceberg 
near  by.  I  really  expected  to  see  it  rise  ;  but  no, 
down  sank  the  little  red  column  of  alcohol,  down, 
down  almost  to  the  bulb,  until  it  touched  sixty- 
eight  and  a  half  degrees  below  zero,  Fahrenheit, 
equal  to  one  hundred  and  a  half  degrees  below 
the  freezing-point  of  water.  It  struck  me  as  a 
singular  circumstance  that  this  great  depression 
of  temperature  was  not  perceptible  to  the  senses, 
which  utterly  failed  to  give  us  even  so  much  as 
a  hint  that  here  in  this  blazing  sunlight  we  were 
experiencing  about  the  coldest  temperature  ever 
recorded." 

After    this   preliminary   journey    Hayes    laid 


ISAAC  ISRAEL  HAYES  2S5 

down  supplies  at  the  nearest  point  on  the  Green- 
land shore  south  of,  and  facing,  Cape  Hawks. 
This  place,  called  Cairn  Point,  was  to  be  the  base 
of  his  summer's  campaign  to  the  north.  Finally 
everything  was  ready  for  the  main  journey,  and 
the  party  started  on  the  night  of  April  3,  1861. 
Twelve  men,  the  entire  available  force,  were  put 


'--m 


Adrift  on  a   Berg. 


into  the  field  :  Jansen  with  an  eight-dog  sledge, 
Knorr  with  a  six-dog  sledge,  and  a  ten-man 
sledge  on  which  was  mounted  a  twenty-foot  me- 
tallic life-boat,  with  which  Hayes  hoped  to  navi- 
gate the  Polar  Sea.  The  journey  lay  directly  to 
the  north  over  the  frozen  surface  of  Kane  Sea, 
where  the  difficulties  of  travel  through  the 
broken  hummocky  ice  were  so  great,  and  the 
unfitness  of  some  of  the  men  for  Arctic  travel  so 


286  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

speedily  developed,  that  Hayes  was  forced  to 
abandon  his  efforts  to  get  the  boat  across  the 
frozen  sea,  which,  he  says,  "  could  not  have  been 
done  by  one  hundred  men."  On  April  24th 
Hayes  records  that  he  had  been  twenty-two 
days  from  the  schooner,  and  was  now  distant 
only  thirty  miles  from  Cairn  Point.  Four  days 
later,  still  struggling  across  the  rough  ice  of 
Kane  Sea,  the  party  was  practically  broken 
down,  being,  as  Hayes  chronicles,  "  barely  capa- 
ble of  attending  to  their  own  immediate  neces- 
sities without  harboring  the  thought  of  exerting 
themselves  to  complete  a  journey  to  which  they 
can  see  no  termination,  and  in  the  very  outset  of 
which  they  feel  that  their  lives  are  being  sacri- 
ficed." 

In  this  critical  condition  Hayes  changed  his 
plans,  and  sent  back  the  entire  party  to  the  brig, 
except  Knorr,  Jansen,  and  McDonald,  whom  he 
selected  as  best  fitted  to  make  the  northern 
journey,  which  he  had  decided  to  make  with 
fourteen  dogs  and  two  sledges.  Turning  north- 
ward with  renewed  confidence  and  vigor,  though 
yet  struggling  with  various  misfortunes  through  a 
tangle  of  broken  hummocks,  Hayes  reached  Cape 
Hawks  on  May  nth.  The  condition  of  the  ice 
may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  he  had  been 
thirty-one  days  in  making  a  distance  of  eighty 
miles,  a  little  more  than  two  miles  a  day.  Three 
days'  farther  march  took  him  to  Cape  Frazier, 
where  the  flagstaff  erected  by  him  in  1853  yet 
stood  erect.  At  the  end  of  the  next  march,  where 
they  were  driven  to  the  sea  ice  owing  to  the  im- 


ISAAC  ISRAEL  HAYES  287 

possibility  of  following  the  ice-foot,  Hayes  as- 
cended the  hillside,  whence,  he  says,  "  No  land 
was  visible  to  the  eastward.  As  it  would  not 
have  been  difficult  through  such  an  atmosphere 
to  see  a  distance  of  fifty  or  sixty  miles,  it  would 
appear  therefore  that  Kennedy  Channel  is  some- 
what wider  than  heretofore  supposed." 

On  May  15th  Jansen  was  disabled  for  travelling 
by  a  sprained  back  and  injured  leg,  and  the  next 
morning  was  scarcely  able  to  move.  Hayes  de- 
cided to  leave  the  disabled  man  in  charge  of 
McDonald  and  proceed  with  Knorr,  his  purpose 
being  "to  make  the  best  push  I  could  and  travel 
as  far  as  my  provisions  warranted,  reach  the 
highest  attainable  latitude  and  secure  such  a 
point  of  observation  as  would  enable  me  to  form 
a  definite  opinion  respecting  the  sea  before  me." 

Rough  ice  and  deep  snow  so  impeded  his  prog- 
ress the  first  day  that  he  only  made  nine  miles 
in  as  many  hours.  Ten  hours'  march  compelled 
them  to  again  camp,  and  four  hours  of  the  third 
day  brought  them  to  the  southern  cape  of  a  bay 
which  he  determined  to  cross.  After  travelling 
four  miles  the  rotten  ice  and  frequent  water- 
channels  proved  that  the  bay  was  impassable,  and 
therefore  they  went  into  camp.  The  next  day 
Hayes  climbed  to  the  top  of  the  cliff,  some  eight 
hundred  feet  high,  whence,  he  says,  "  the  sea  be- 
neath me  was  a  mottled  sheet  of  white  and  dark 
patches  multiplied  in  size  as  they  receded  until 
the  belt  of  the  water-sky  blended  them  together. 
.  .  .  All  the  new  evidence  showed  that  I  stood 
upon  the  shores  of  the  polar  basin,  and  that  the 


288      EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

broad  ocean  lay  at  my  feet.  .  .  .  There  was 
seen  in  dim  outline  the  white  sloping  summit  of  a 
noble  head-land,  the  most  northern  known  land 
upon  our  globe.  I  judged  it  to  be  in  latitude  82° 
30'  N.,  or  four  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the 
North  Pole.  .  .  .  There  was  no  land  visible 
except  the  coast  on  which  I  stood." 

Hayes,  before  returning  to  his  ship,  deposited 
in  a  cairn  a  record,  dated  May  19,  1861,  setting 
forth  his  trip,  stating  that  his  observations  placed 
him  in  81°  35'  N.  latitude,  and  70°  30'  W.  longi- 
tude ;  that  his  further  progress  was  stopped  by 
rotten  ice  and  cracks ;  that  he  believed  the  polar 
basin  was  navigable  during  the  months  of  July, 
August,  and  September,  and  that  he  would  make 
an  attempt  to  get  through  Smith's  Sound  when 
the  ice  broke  that  summer. 

The  extent  and  scope  of  Hayes's  discoveries, 
as  set  forth  in  his  account  of  the  expedition  in 
"  The  Open  Polar  Sea,"  gave  rise  to  persistent 
and  adverse  criticism  both  as  to  the  soundness  of 
his  judgment  and  also  as  to  the  accuracy  of  his 
observations.  Three  expeditions,  by  their  later 
surveys,  have  demonstrated  that  the  astronomi- 
cal position  assigned  by  Hayes  to  his  "  farthest " 
on  the  east  coast  of  Grinnell  Land  is  impossible. 
There  is  unmistakably  an  error  either  of  latitude 
or  of  longitude.  Cape  Joseph  Goode,  it  is  to  be 
remarked,  is  in  the  longitude  assigned  by  Hayes, 
while  Cape  Lieber  is  no  less  than  six  and  a  half 
degrees  to  the  eastward ;  reversely,  Lieber  cor- 
responds nearly  to  Hayes's  latitude,  while  Cape 
Joseph   Goode  is  a  degree   and   a   half   to   the 


ISAAC  ISRAEL  HAYES  289 

south.  Grave  and  undisputable  errors  in  other 
latitudes,  all  being  too  far  to  the  north,  indicate 
that  the  mistake  in  this  instance  is  also  of  lati- 
tude. In  justice  to  Hayes  it  should  be  said  that 
the  latitude  of  his  "  farthest "  depended  solely 
on  a  single  observation  with  a  small  field  sex- 
tant of  the  meridian  altitude  of  the  sun.  While 
this  is  the  common  method  on  shipboard  it  is 
exceedingly  objectionable  in  Arctic  land  deter- 
minations. It  depends  not  only  on  the  honesty 
of  the  observer,  but  on  the  condition  of  the  sex- 
tant and  also  on  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
handled ;  either  of  these  three  qualities  being 
faulty  the  observation  is  incorrect.  The  ten- 
dency of  the  sextant  to  "  slip,"  as  it  is  turned 
over  for  reading,  and  the  almost  invariably  be- 
numbed condition  of  the  hands  of  the  traveller, 
indicate  the  extreme  difficulty  of  making  any 
single  reading  with  accuracy.  Again,  with  haste 
demanded  so  often  by  adverse  circumstances,  the 
index  of  a  very  small  sextant  may  be  misread  a 
whole  degree.  It  is  unquestioned  that  one  or 
the  other  of  these  accidents  happened  to  Hayes, 
for  the  independent  investigations  of  Bessels, 
Schott,  and  others  lead  to  the  inevitable  conclu- 
sion, which  any  scientist  may  verify  by  exami- 
nation of  Hayes's  widely  separated  data,  that 
his  "farthest"  is  placed  too  far  north.  The  con- 
census of  opinion  in  the  Lady  Franklin  expedi- 
tion pointed  to  Cape  Joseph  Goode,  80°  14'  N., 
as  Hayes's  "  farthest,"  as  it  agreed  better  with 
Hayes's  description  than  any  other  point;  it  may 
be  added  that  from  this  cape  Hayes  coidd  not 
19 


290  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

see  the  Greenland  coast  above  Cape  Constitu- 
tion, which  he  leaves  blank  on  his  chart,  and 
again,  here  the  unusually  heavy  spring  tides, 
of  nearly  twenty-five-foot  range,  break  up  the 
southern  half  of  the  floes  of  Kennedy  Channel, 
thus  forming  early  in  the  year  large  water-spaces 
— the  Open  Polar  Sea  of  Hayes  and  Morton. 

Even  if  Hayes's  sight  of  the  Open  Polar 
Sea  proved  visionary,  and  certain  unskilled  ob- 
servations failed  of  verification,  yet  his  adven- 
turous voyage  was  not  barren  of  geographical 
results.  He  was  the  first  civilized  man  to  land 
on  the  shores  of  Ellesmere  Land,  along  the  coasts 
of  which,  between  the  seventy-seventh  and  sev- 
enty-eighth parallels,  he  made  important  discov- 
eries ;  while  farther  to  the  northward,  Hayes 
Sound,  Bache  Island,  and  other  unknown  lands 
and  waters  were  added  to  our  maps  through  his 
strenuous  exertions. 

Breaking  out  his  schooner  on  July  lo,  1861, 
an  unprecedentedly  early  date  for  an  Arctic  ship, 
he  quickly  decided  that  he  could  hope  for  no 
further  northing  in  a  sailing  vessel.  However, 
he  crossed  the  strait  to  the  unvisited  shores  of 
Ellesmere  Land,  where  he  made  such  an  exami- 
nation of  the  coast  as  was  practicable,  and  then 
turned  his  face  homeward. 

Hayes  was  fully  alive  to  the  absolute  necessity 
of  steam-power  for  complete  Arctic  success,  but 
strictly  limited  means  obliged  him  to  go  in  a 
sailing  vessel  or  not  at  all.  He  plainly  foresaw 
the  magnificent  success  awaiting  the  first  expe- 
dition that  should  carry  steam-power  into  Smith 


ISAAC  ISRAEL  HAYES  291 

Sound,  and  full  of  dreams  of  future  Arctic  work 
he  impatiently  returned  to  the  United  States. 
It  was  not  to  be.  Civil  war  raged,  and  the  coun- 
try called  its  loyal  sons  to  arms.  Hayes  was  not 
the  man  to  falter  at  such  a  juncture.  He  at  once 
tendered  his  schooner  to  the  government  for 
such  use  as  was  possible,  and  volunteered  for 
the  war,  where  his  activity  as  the  head  of  a  great 
war  hospital  taxed  to  the  utmost  the  mental  and 
physical  powers  which  had  so  long  been  occu- 
pied in  arduous  efforts  to  solve  the  riddle  of  the 
ice-free  sea. 

Hayes  visited  Greenland  a  third  time,  in  1869, 
with  the  Arctic  artist,  William  Bradford,  in  the 
steam-sealer  Panther.  Arctic  scenery  was  their 
quest,  and  so  they  visited  the  fiord  of  Sermitsi- 
alik,  where  the  inland  ice,  which  covers  the 
greater  part  of  Greenland,  pushes  down  into  the 
sea  as  an  enormous  glacier,  with  a  front  two  and 
a  half  miles  wide. 

Here  Hayes  witnessed  the  birth  of  an  iceberg, 
of  which  he  says :  "  It  would  be  impossible  for 
mere  words  alone  to  convey  an  adequate  idea  of 
the  action  of  this  new-born  child  of  the  Arctic 
frosts.  Think  of  a  solid  block  of  ice,  a  third  of 
a  mile  deep,  and  more  than  half  a  mile  in  lateral 
diameter,  hurled  like  a  mere  toy  away  into  the 
water,  and  set  to  rolling  to  and  fro  by  the  im- 
petus of  the  act.  Picture  this  and  you  will  have 
an  image  of  power  not  to  be  seen  by  the  action 
of  any  other  forces  upon  the  earth.  The  dis- 
turbance of  the  water  was  inconceivably  fine. 
Waves  of  enormous  magnitude  were  rolled  up 


292  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

with  great  violence  against  the  glacier,  covering 
it  with  spray ;  and  billows  came  tearing  down 
the  fiord,  their  progress  marked  by  the  crackling 
and  crumbling  ice  which  was  everywhere  in  a 
state  of  the  wildest  agitation  for  the  space  of 
several  miles." 

The  famous  mine  of  cryolite,  the  only  valuable 
mineral  deposit  in  Greenland  ;  the  Hope  Sander- 
son of  John  Davis's  great  voyage  of  1587,  with 
its  lofty  crest  and  innumerable  flocks  of  wild- 
fowl ;  Tessuissak,  the  most  northerly  settlement 
of  Greenland  ;  Duck  Islands,  the  haunts  of  the 
eider,  and  the  chosen  rendezvous  of  ice-stayed 
whalers  ;  Devil's  Thumb,  the  great,  wonderful 
pillar,  to  the  base  of  which  Hayes  struggled  up 
thirteen  hundred  feet  above  the  ice-covered  sea, 
and  Sabine  Island,  all  saw  the  Panther,  in  its 
pleasure-seeking  journey.  If  no  geographical 
results  sprang  from  this  voyage,  it  had  a  literary 
outcome  in  Hayes's  book,  "  The  Land  of  Deso- 
lation," and  in  a  series  of  detached  sketches, 
which  in  beauty  and  interest  are  unsurpassed  as 
regards  life  in  Danish  Greenland. 

Hayes  died  in  New  York  City,  December  17, 
1 88 1.  To  the  last  he  maintained  a  lively  inter- 
est in  Arctic  exploration,  and  ever  and  again  he 
favored  polar  research,  always  with  an  alterna- 
tive scheme  of  his  old  harbor,  Foulke  fiord,  as 
the  base  of  operations.  He  resented  the  appel- 
lation "  Great  Frozen  Sea  "  as  properly  character- 
izing the  Arctic  Ocean  to  the  north  of  Gi-eenland, 
and  to  the  last  held  fast  to  the  ideal  of  his  youth, 
the  belief  of  his  manhood,  "  The  Open  Polar  Sea." 


XI. 
CHARLES  FRANCIS  HALL, 

And  the  North  Pole. 

Among  the  many  exploring  expeditions  that 
have  crossed  the  Arctic  Circle  with  the  sole 
view  of  reaching  the  North  Pole,  one  only  has 
sailed  entirely  under  the  auspices  of  the  United 
States.  This  expedition  was  commanded  neither 
by  an  officer  of  one  of  the  twin  military  services 
nor  by  a  sailor  of  the  merchant  marine,  but  its 
contrcjl  was  intrusted  to  a  born  Arctic  explorer, 
Charles  Francis  Hall.  Born  in  1821,  in  Roches- 
ter, N.  H.,  Hall  early  quitted  his  native  hills  for 
the  freer  fields  of  the  West,  as  the  Ohio  Valley 
was  then  called,  and  later  settled  in  Cincinnati. 
There  was  ever  a  spirit  of  change  in  him,  and  as 
years  rolled  on  he  passed  from  blacksmith  to 
journalist,  from  stationer  to  engraver.  Through 
all  these  changes  of  trades  he  held  fast  to  one 
fancy,  which  in  time  became  the  dominating  ele- 
ment of  his  eventful  career :  in  early  youth,  fas- 
cinated with  books  of  travel  relating  to  explora- 
tion in  the  icy  zones,  he  eagerly  improved  every 
opportunity  to  increase  his  Arctic  hbrary,  which 
steadily  grew  despite  his  very  limited  resources. 
His  interest  in  the  fate  of  Franklin  was  so  intense 


294 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


that  he  followed  with  impatience  the  slow  and 
uncertain  efforts  for  the  relief  of  the  lost  ex- 
plorer. Not  content  with  mere  sympathy  he  also 
planned  an  American  search,  to  be  conducted  in 


Charles  Francis  Hall. 


Her  Majesty's  ship  Resolute.  Learning  in  1859 
that  this  Arctic  ship  was  laid  up  and  dismantled 
he  originated  a  petition  asking  that  it  be  loaned 
for  such  purpose.  The  return  of  McClintock 
with  definite  news  of  the  death  of  Franklin,  and 
the  retreat  and  loss  of  his  expeditionary  force, 


CHARLES  FRANCIS  HALL  295 

put  an  end  to  the  petition.  Hall,  however,  de- 
spite the  admirable  and  convincing  report  of 
McClintock,  persisted  in  the  belief  that  some 
members  of  Franklin's  crew  were  yet  alive,  and 
he  determined  to  solve  the  problem  by  visiting 
King  William  Land,  the  scene  of  the  final  dis- 
aster. He  issued  circulars  asking  public  aid, 
diligently  sought  out  whalers  and  explorers  who 
could  give  him  their  personal  experiences,  and 
finally  determined  that  he  must  go  and  live  with 
the  Esquimaux,  and,  conforming  to  their  modes 
of  travel  and  existence,  work  out  his  Arctic  prob- 
lem on  new  lines. 

The  inauguration  of  the  plan  presented  diffi- 
culties, for  Hall  was  without  means ;  but  his  per- 
sistent action  created  confidence,  and  the  modest 
outfit  for  the  voyage  was  procured  through 
friendly  contributions,  while  passage  on  a  whaler 
for  himself  and  baggage  was  tendered. 

On  July  30,  i860,  with  a  whale-boat  and  scanty 
supplies.  Hall  landed  alone  on  the  west  coast  of 
Davis  Strait,  in  Frobisher  Ba)\  His  base  of  oper- 
ations was  Rescue  Harbor,  63°  N.,  65°  W.,  whence 
he  made  a  series  of  sledge  journeys  during  the 
two  years  passed  in  this  region.  He  re-examined 
the  coasts  visited  by  Frobisher  in  his  eventful 
voyages  of  1575  to  1579,  and  found  the  famous 
gold  mine  on  Meta  Incognita,  whence  1,300  tons 
of  ore  were  carried  to  England,  where,  as  the 
chronicles  relate,  "in  the  melting  and  refining  16 
tonnes  whereof,  proceeded  210  ounces  of  fine 
silver  mixed  with  gold." 

An  extensive  collection  of  relics  of  Frobisher's 


296  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

expedition  was  made,  which  later  was  given  to 
the  Royal  Geographical  Society.  The  expedi- 
tion of  Hall  was  mainly  fruitful  in  training  him 
for  other  Arctic  work,  for  though  his  knowledge 
was  self-acquired  and  instruments  imperfect,  yet 
his  indefatigable  industry  and  practice  in  scien- 
tific observations  made  him  a  reliable  observer 
by  the  time  of  his  return.  It  may  be  added  that 
his  careful  and  detailed  description  of  the  habits 
and  life  of  the  Esquimaux  of  the  west  coast  of 
Davis  Strait  are  of  decided  value  from  his  rigid 
truthfulness,  which  caused  him  to  record  what 
he  saw  without  exaggeration. 

Hall's  success  in  obtaining  so  many  relics  of 
Frobisher's  voyage  of  three  centuries  previous, 
and  the  fact  that  the  Esquimaux  yet  had  tradition- 
ary knowledge  of  that  voyage,  encouraged  Hall 
and  his  friends  to  a  confident  belief  that  a  vo}- age 
to  the  shores  of  King  William  Land  would  result 
in  the  discovery  of  records,  relics,  possibly  sur- 
vivors, and  in  any  event  rescue  the  story  of  the 
retreat  of  Crozier  from  oblivion  by  hearing  it 
from  Esquimau  eye-witnesses. 

Future  search  operations  were  to  be  promot- 
ed through  his  Esquimau  followers,  commonly 
known  as  Joe  and  Hannah,  who  returned  with 
him  to  the  United  States,  and  further.  Hall  re- 
lied upon  his  knowledge  of  the  Esquimau  lan- 
guage, in  which  he  had  acquired  considerable 
facility  during  his  long  sojourn  with  them. 

Hall's  return  was  in  1862,  and  in  1864  he  was 
ready  for  his  second  voyage.  On  August  20th  he 
was  landed,  with  his  two  natives,  a  whale-boat, 


CHARLES  FUANCtS  HALL  297 

tent,  and  a  moderate  amount  of  provisions,  on 
Depot  Island,  in  the  extreme  northern  part  of 
Hudson  Bay,  in  63°  47'  N.,  90°  W.,  where  Hall 
began  his  life  and  quest  that  were  to  last  five 
weary  years. 

Preliminary  autumnal  journeys  extended  his 
knowledge,  but  they  were  marked  by  no  definite 
progress,  and  the  summer  of  1864  was  spent  by  the 
natives  in  securing  game  for  the  coming  winter, 
thus  postponing  Hall's  chances  of  a  westward 
sledge-trip  to  King  William  Land  yet  another 
year.  Despairing  of  assistance  from  natives  near 
the  whaling  rendezvous,  Hall  decided  to  make 
his  winter-quarters  in  Repulse  Bay,  at  Fort 
Hope,  60°  32'  N.,  87°  W.,  occupied,  1846-47,  by 
the  famous  explorer,  Dr.  Rae.  Here  he  hoped 
to  secure  the  friendship  of  the  neighboring  Esqui- 
maux and  lay  up  stores  of  game  for  the  final  ex- 
pedition, and  there  he  wintered  in  1865-66,  during 
which  he  secured  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
reindeer,  some  salmon,  and  ptarmigan.  With  re- 
turning spring  the  Esquimaux  promised  to  make 
the  journey,  and  with  quite  a  party  and  several 
dog-sledges  Hall's  heart  was  full  of  joy  and  ex- 
pectation as  they  moved  northward  across  Rae 
Peninsula,  on  March  30,  1866.  His  discourage- 
ments commenced  with  the  long  halts  and  fre- 
quent detours  for  hunts,  and  his  disappointment 
was  complete  when  the  natives  decided  to  turn 
back  from  Cape  Weynton,  68°  N.,  89°  W.,  after 
having,  in  twenty-eight  days,  only  travelled  as 
far  with  dogs  as  Rae  had  gone  on  foot  in  five 
days.     Hall  simply  records :  "  My  King  William 


298  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

party  is  ended  for  the  present ;  disappointed  but 
not  discouraged." 

The  journey  and  time  were  not  fruitless,  for 
near  Cape  Weynton  he  fell  in  with  four  strange 
Esquimaux,  who  gave  him  most  valuable  informa- 
tion as  to  the  subject  nearest  his  heart.  They 
related  that  some  of  their  people  had  visited  the 
search  ships  and  had  seen  Franklin.  What  was 
more  to  the  point,  they  produced  a  considerable 
number  of  articles  that  had  once  belonged  to 
members  of  Franklin's  party.  The  most  impor- 
tant were  silver  articles,  such  as  spoons,  forks, 
etc.,  which  bore  the  crest  of  Franklin  and  other 
officers  of  the  lost  expedition.  These  veritable 
evidences  of  the  passage  of  Crozier  and  others 
of  Franklin's  expedition  through  this  region 
were  fortunately  secured  by  Hall,  and  were 
later  supplemented  by  many  others. 

Unable  to  obtain  Esquimau  assistance  the  fol- 
lowing year.  Hall  made  journeys  here  and  there 
wherever  it  was  possible  ;  one,  in  February,  1867, 
to  Igloolik,  the  winter-quarters  of  Parry  in  1822, 
on  Boothia  Felix  Land,  and  a  second,  in  1868,  to 
the  Strait  of  Fury  and  Hekla,  discovered  by 
Parry  in  1825;.  furthermore,  he  surveyed  the 
northwest  coast  of  Melville  Peninsula,  and  iilled 
in  the  broken  line  of  the  Admiralty  chart  for  the 
northwest  of  that  peninsula. 

Visiting  whalers  urged  on  Hall  the  impossibil- 
ity of  succeeding  in  reaching  King  William  Land 
by  aid  of  natives,  and  more  than  one  captain 
offered  to  carry  him  and  his  party  back  to  the 
United  States.     Never  despairing  of  final  sue- 


CHARLES  FRANCIS  HALL 


299 


cess,  Hall  determined  to  pass  another  winter  at 
Fort  Hope,  Repulse  Bay.  Here,  learning  by 
experience,  and  acquiring  food  supplies  during 
the  winter,  he  succeeded,  in  March,  1869,  in 
again  starting  westward  with  ten  Esquimaux — 
men,    women,    and    children — with    well-loaded 


jis^^-^^^ 


Igloos,  or  Esquimau   Huts. 

dog-sledges.     Progress  was  slow  and  delays  fre- 
quent, but  still  the  journey  was  continued. 

Their  course  from  Repulse  Bay  lay  overland, 
by  nearly  connecting  lakes  and  rivers,  across 
Rae  Peninsula  to  Committee  Bay,  thence  by 
another  similar  overland  route  over  the  south 
end  of  Boothia  Felix  Land,  to  James  Ross  Strait, 
where  King  William  Land  lies  some  sixty  miles 
to  the  west. 


300  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

Hall,  singularly  enough,  was  never  able  to  ap- 
preciate the  attitude  of  the  natives  in  making 
such  a  long,  dangerous  journey  merely  to  please 
him,  for  he  quaintly  complains  that  the  Esqui- 
maux had  no  appreciation  of  his  mission  and 
continually  lost  valuable  time  by  stopping  to 
smoke  and  talk.  They  now  objected  to  go  west 
of  Pelly  Bay,  but  by  persuasion  proceeded  to 
Simpson  Island,  68°  30'  N.,  91°  30'  W.,  where  a 
successful  hunt  for  musk-oxen  so  restored  their 
spirits  that  they  went  on. 

At  Point  Ackland,  on  the  eastern  shore  of 
James  Ross  Strait,  Hall  fortunately  fell  in  with 
natives,  with  whom  he  remained  nine  days,  and 
from  whom  he  obtained  important  information. 
In-nook-poo-zhee-jook  proved  to  be  the  chief 
man  of  the  party,  and  from  him  and  others 
were  purchased  relics,  such  as  silver  spoons, 
plain  and  with  the  crest  of  Franklin.  Hall  was 
told  that  these  articles  came  from  a  large  island 
where  a  great  many  white  men  died,  and  that 
five  white  men  were  buried  on  an  island  known 
to  the  chief.  This  Esquimau  finally  agreed  to 
accompany  Hall  and  guided  him  direct  across 
James  Ross  Strait  to  a  group  of  small  islets  to 
the  east  of  King  William  Land,  where,  on  Todd 
Island,  part  of  a  human  thigh-bone  was  found ; 
snow  covering  the  ground  to  such  a  depth  as 
to  make  thorough  search  impossible  without 
long  delay. 

On  May  12,  1869,  Hall  had  the  supreme  pleas- 
ure of  putting  foot  on  King  William  Land,  the 
object  and  end  of  his  five  years'  life  among  the 


CHARLES  FRANCIS  HALL  301 

Esquimaux.  The  only  tangible  result  of  the 
search  thereon  was  the  discovery  of  a  human 
skeleton,  and  he  reluctantly  set  out  on  his  re- 
turn. Esquimaux  were  fallen  in  with  in  Pelly 
Bay,  68°  30'  N.,  90°  30'  W.,  and  an  old  man,  Tung- 
nuk,  on  inquiry  regarding  Franklin  relics  in  their 
possession,  told  Hall  that  the  natives  had  found 
a  ship  beset  near  Ki-ki-tuk,  King  William  Land, 
and  that  in  getting  wood  out  of  it  they  made  a 
hole  in  the  ship,  which  soon  after  sank.  Ko-big, 
another  native,  said  that  all  the  white  men  per- 
ished, except  two  at  Ki-ki-tuk,  whose  fate  was 
unknown. 

Hall  felt  satisfied,  from  the  stories  of  the  Es- 
quimaux and  other  evidences,  that  he  was  able 
to  determine  the  fate  of  seventy-nine  out  of  the 
one  hundred  and  five  men  of  Crozier's  party, 
which  retreated  in  1848  from  the  abandoned 
ships.  The  Esquimaux  told  him  that  Crozier, 
Franklin's  second  in  command,  had  passed  near 
their  huts  ;  that  he  had  a  gun  in  his  hand  and  a 
telescope  around  his  neck,  and  that  his  men  were 
dragging  two  boats.  Crozier  told  the  natives 
that  they  were  going  to  Repulse  Bay.  The  Es- 
quimaux admitted  that  they  had  deserted  Cro- 
zier owing  to  the  fact  that  his  party  was  in  a 
starving  condition  and  their  food  was  scarce. 

As  far  as  Hall  could  make  out,  Crozier,  late  in 
July,  1848,  passed  down  the  west  coast  of  King 
William  Land  with  forty  men  dragging  two 
sledges,  and  near  Cape  Herschel  fell  in  with  four 
Esciulmaux  families,  who,  after  communicating 
witii  Crozier,  fled  from  the  starving  party  during 


302  EXPLORERS  AND    TRAVELLERS 

the  night.  From  native  accounts  Hall  was  also 
able  to  enumerate  in  detail  the  points  at  which 
the  retreating  party  had  died  and  been  buried. 

Among  other  relics  collected  by  Hall  were 
portions  of  one  of  the  boats,  an  oak  sledge-run- 
ner, a  chronometer  box  with  the  Queen's  broad 
arrow  engraved   thereon,  Franklin's  mahogany 


In  Winter-Quarters. 

writing-desk,  and  many  pieces  of  silver,  forks, 
spoons,  knives,  and  parts  of  watches.  It  was 
claimed  by  the  natives  that  one  of  Franklin's 
ships  made  the  northwest  passage  with  five  men 
on  board,  and  in  the  spring  of  1849  was  found 
by  them  near  O'Reilly  Island  (68°  30'  N.,  99°  W.). 
Hall  had  now  passed  five  years  among  the  Es- 
quimaux, in  which  time  he  had  made  sledge 
journeys  aggregating  more  than  three  thousand 
miles ;   acquired  a  thorough   knowledge  of  the 


CHARLES  FRANCIS  HALL  303 

language  and  methods  of  life  of  the  natives, 
and  proved  the  possibility  of  a  white  man  living 
the  same  life  and  making  the  same  sledge  jour- 
neys as  the  natives ;  but  at  the  same  time  he  be- 
came conscious  that  no  very  extended  sledge- 
work  could  be  done  by  Esquimau  aid  alone. 
His  five  years  of  arduous  Arctic  life  ended  in 
1869  by  his  returning  home  on  an  American 
whaler,  bringing  with  him  his  faithful  Esquimaux, 
Joe  and  Hannah. 

Hall's  return  to  the  United  States  was  simply, 
however,  to  pursue  another  and  greater  voyage, 
in  which  he  believed  he  would  be  able  to  reach 
the  North  Pole. 

After  strenuous  efforts  he  succeeded  in  interest- 
ing the  President,  the  Cabinet,  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  Congressmen  in  his  project,  and  on  July 
12,  1870,  Congress  appropriated  $50,000  for  the 
purpose  of  the  expedition ;  authorized  the  em- 
ployment of  any  suitable  vessel  in  the  navy,  and 
provided  that  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences 
should  prescribe  the  scope  of  the  scientific  ob- 
servations. An  old  tug  of  nearly  four  hundred 
tons  burden,  rechristened  under  the  name  of  Po- 
laris, was  selected,  overhauled,  and  strengthened. 

Hall  sailed  from  New  York  June  29th,  the 
party  consisting  of  Captain  Buddington,  sailing- 
master;  Dr.  Emil  Bessel,  chief  of  the  scientific 
staff;  R.  W.  D.  Bryan,  astronomer;  Sergeant 
Frederick  Meyer,  Signal  Corps,  meteorologist ; 
seven  petty  officers,  and  a  crew  of  fourteen,  to- 
gether with  his  faithful  servants,  Joe  and  Hannah. 

The  Polaris  was  provisioned  and  equipped  for 


304  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

an  absence  of  two  and  a  half  years,  and  her  voy- 
age was  destined  to  be  over  the  route  made  fa- 
mous by  the  expeditions  of  Kane  and  Hayes, 
through  Davis  Strait  and  northward  along  the 
west  coast  of  Greenland,  although  Hall  was  at 
first  uncertain  whether  he  would  not  enter 
Jones's  Sound,  instead  of  Smith's  Strait.  The 
usual  visits  to  the  Greenland  ports  were  made, 
with  resulting  stores  of  furs,  dogs,  sledges,  and 
other  paraphernalia  for  exploration  in  the  far 
North.  To  this  point  the  expedition  was  con- 
voyed by  the  man-of-war  Congress,  which  bade 
the  Polaris  Godspeed  as  she  left  Godhaven  on 
her  lonely  journey. 

Hans  Hendrick,  the  Esquimau  dog  traveller, 
whose  services  with  Kane  and  Hayes  commended 
him  to  Hall,  accompanied  the  expedition  with 
his  wife  and  children.  It  was  a  strange  meet- 
ing between  Morton,  the  second  mate,  and  Hans, 
the  Esquimau,  who,  twenty  years  before,  as 
subordinates  of  Kane,  had  made  together  the 
memorable  sledge  journey  from  Rensselaer  Har- 
bor, along  the  Humboldt  Glacier,  to  Cape  Con- 
stitution. 

The  Polaris  was  favored  by  an  unusually  open 
sea ;  Melville  Bay  was  crossed  in  forty-eight 
hours  and  the  "  North  Water  "  beyond  was  so 
free  of  ice  that  the  Polaris  kept  her  way  un- 
checked until  she  reached  Hakluyt  Island  ;  even 
here  the  ice-pack  was  so  open  that  the  Polaris 
easily  forced  her  Avay.  Littleton  Island  was 
passed  on  the  evening  of  August  27,  1870,  and 
later,  crossing  the  parallel  of  Rensselaer  Harbor, 


An  Arctic  Fiord. 


306  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

the  Polaris  attained  a  higher  latitude  than  any 
former  vessel  on  this  route.  Kane  Sea  and 
Kennedy  Channel  proved  equally  free  of  ice,  so 
that  the  Polaris,  steaming  uninterruptedly  north- 
ward, entered  the  Arctic  Ocean,  hitherto  inaces- 
sible,  where  she  was  finally  stopped  by  an  im- 
penetrable pack,  in  82°  26'  N.  This  point  was 
more  than  two  hundred  miles  directly  north  of 
the  farthest  reached  by  Kane's  vessel,  the  Ad- 
vance. From  this  vantage-ground  it  was  seen 
that  the  eastern  coast-line  of  Grinnell  Land  ex- 
tended somewhat  farther  to  the  north  before 
turning  to  the  west,  and  that,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  coast  of  Northern  Greenland  trended  very 
nearly  eastward.  Strenuous,  though  unavailing, 
efforts  were  made  to  push  the  Polaris  further 
northward ;  failing  this,  attempts  were  then 
made  to  find  a  safe  harbor  to  the  eastward, 
but  none  was  accessible.  In  the  meantime  the 
main  ice-pack  of  the  Arctic  Ocean,  setting 
southward  to  its  normal  position,  carried  the 
Polaris  steadily  to  the  south,  through  Robinson 
Channel,  a  distance  of  nearly  fifty  miles,  and 
nearly  caused  her  destruction  by  forcing  her 
on  the  Greenland  coast.  Fortunately  the  pack 
opened  somewhat,  so  that  the  vessel  was  en- 
abled to  change  her  position  and  secure  safe 
anchorage.  This  place,  later  named  Thank  God 
Harbor,  in  81°  37'  N.,  61°  44'  W.,  was  shel- 
tered by  a  bold  cape  to  the  north,  while  the 
Polaris  was  protected  from  the  polar  pack  by  an 
immense  ice-floe,  called  Providence  Berg.  This 
enormous    floe-berg,    grounded    in   a   hundred 


CHARLES  FRANCIS  HALL  307 

fathoms  of  water,  was  by  direct  measurement 
four  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  three  hundred 
feet  broad,  and  towered  sixty  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea. 

Preparations  were  at  once  made  to  put  the 
crew  in  winter-quarters,  and  on  shore  an  observ- 
atory was  built  for  scientific  purposes.  To  the 
surprise  and  delight  of  the  party,  seals  proved  to 
be  quite  abundant,  and  a  small  herd  of  musk- 
oxen  was  found,  the  first  of  these  animals  ever 
seen  on  the  west  coast  of  Greenland. 

Leaving  his  chief  of  the  scientific  staff  and  his 
sailing-master  to  their  respective  duties,  Hall 
decided  on  a  preliminary  sledge  journey  in  or- 
der to  determine  the  best  route  for  his  contem- 
plated journey  of  the  next  spring  toward  the 
pole.  A  heavy  fall  of  snow  insured  good 
sledging  and  enabled  him  to  leave  Thank  God 
Harbor  on  October  loth,  he  being  accompanied 
by  the  first  mate,  Chester,  the  Esquimaux,  Joe  and 
Hans  Hendrick,  with  two  dog-sledges  and  four- 
teen dogs.  In  a  journey  of  six  days  he  attained 
Cape  Brevoort,  in  82°  N.,  on  the  north  side  of 
Newman  Bay,  a  considerable  distance  to  the 
southward,  however,  of  the  point  reached  by  the 
Polaris  in  the  Arctic  Ocean.  In  a  despatch 
written  at  this  point,  Hall  says,  "  From  Cape 
Brevoort  we  can  see  land  extending  on  the 
west  side  of  the  strait  to  the  north,  a  distance 
of  about  seventy  miles,  thus  making  land,  as  far 
as  we  can  discover,  about  83°  5'  N."  To  illus- 
trate the  accuracy  of  Hall's  judgment  and  his 
freedom  from  making  extravagant  claims,  it  may 


308     EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

be  stated  that  the  detailed  surveys  of  the  British 
Arctic  expedition  of  1876  show  the  most  north- 
erly point  on  the  east  coast  of  Grinnell  Land, 
Cape  Joseph  Henry,  which  possibly  could  be 
seen  by  Hall,  was  in  82°  55',  or  within  ten  miles 
of  the  position  assigned  it  from  a  distance  of 
seventy  miles. 

Hall  returned  to  the  Polaris  on  October  24th, 


A  Woman  of  the   Arctic   Highlanders.     Sketched  from   life. 

speaking  most  encouragingly  of  his  prospects 
and  planning  another  sledge  journey  for  the  au- 
tumn. Within  an  hour,  however,  he  was  taken 
violently  ill,  and  upon  examination,  Dr.  Bessels 
announced  that  he  had  been  stricken  with  apo- 
plexy, that  his  left  side  was  paralyzed,  and  that 
his  sickness  might  prove  fatal.  After  an  illness, 
with  delirium,  for  several  days,  he  improved  ma- 
terially, and  was  even  able,  through  his  clerk,  to 
arrange  the  records  of  his  late  sledge  journey,  but 


CHARLES  FRANCIS  HALL  309 

a  recurrence  of  the  attack  caused  his  death,  on 
November  8,  1871. 

The  death  of  Hall  left  the  expedition  without 
a  head.  However,  Captain  Buddington,  the  sail- 
ing-master, and  Dr.  Bessels,  the  chief  of  the  sci- 
entific staff,  signed  an  agreement  to  do  all  in 
their  power  to  fulfil  the  ultimate  object  of  Hall's 
ambition.  Desultory  efforts  to  go  northward  by 
boat  were  made  without  success  the  following 
year,  and  the  only  expedition  which  had  definite 
result  was  one  on  foot  by  Sergeant  Meyer,  of 
the  Signal  Corps  of  the  United  States  Army, 
during  which  he  reached  Repulse  Harbor,  82° 
9'  N.,  on  the  shores  of  the  frozen  Polar  Sea,  at 
that  time  the  most  northerly  land  ever  attained. 

The  future  of  the  Polaris  expedition  does  not 
strictly  pertain  to  Hall.  However,  the  winter 
was  marked  by  a  series  of  valuable  physical  ob- 
servations, made  by  Dr.  Bessels  and  Mr.  Bryan, 
the  astronomer.  In  August,  1872,  it  was  decided 
to  return  to  the  United  States.  Pushed  into  an 
impenetrable  pack,  anchored  to  a  floe,  the  Po- 
laris drifted  with  the  main  ice-pack  down  Ken- 
nedy Channel,  through  Kane  Sea,  and  into  Smith 
vSound,  where,  on  October  15,  1872,  off  Northum- 
berland Island,  the  pack  was  disrupted  by  a 
violent  gale,  which  freed  the  Polaris.  Part  of 
her  crew,  left  upon  the  ice-pack,  experienced  the 
horrors  of  a  mid-winter  drift  southward  of  thir- 
teen hundred  miles,  and  were  picked  up  off  the 
coast  of  Labrador  by  the  sealer  Tigress,  in 
the  spring  of  1872.  The  Polaris  drifted  to  land 
in  Lifeboat  Cove,  near  Littleton   Island,  where 


310  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

the  party  built  winter-quarters  on  shore,  known 
as  Polaris  House.  In  the  succeeding  summer 
they  built  boats  from  the  remains  of  their  ship, 
by  means  of  which  they  reached  Cape  York, 
where  their  contemplated  journey  across  Mel- 
ville Bay  was  rendered  unnecessary   by  falling 


Esquimau  Woman.     Sketched  from   life. 


in    with    the   whaler   Ravenscraig,    which    took 
them  to  England. 

The  geographical  results  of  Hall's  last  expedi- 
tion were  extensive  and  valuable.  Not  only  was 
the  Polaris  navigated  to  the  highest  point  then 
ever  attained  by  a  vessel,  but  the  very  shores  of 
the  Polar  Sea  were  visited  and  explored.  Hall 
carried  northward  and  completed  the  explora- 
tion of  Kennedy  Channel ;  outlined  the  coast  of 
Hall    Basin  and    Robinson    Channel :    extended 


aUARLES  FRANCIS  HALL  311 

Grinnell  Land  northward  nearly  two  degrees  of 
latitude  to  practically  its  extreme  limit ;  added 
materially  to  the  northern  limits  of  Greenland, 
and  charted  a  very  extensive  portion  of  its 
northern  coast.  Unfortunately  for  the  general 
credit  of  the  expedition,  the  accurate  observa- 
tions and  conservative  estimates  of  Hall  were 
not  adhered  to,  and  in  their  stead  were  published, 
under  government  auspices,  a  chart  of  Hall's 
discoveries  which  proved  misleading  in  many  of 
its  details,  extravagant  and  unreliable  in  its 
claims  of  new  northern  lands. 

The  fidelity,  accuracy,  and  importance  of  Hall's 
Arctic  work  is  recognized,  especially  by  his 
American  and  British  successors  in  Smith  Sound. 
Nares,  in  his  official  report  to  Parliament,  states 
that  the  east  coast-line  of  Grinnell  Land  agreed 
"  so  well  with  Hall's  description  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  mistake  their  identity.  Their  bear- 
ing also,  although  differing  upward  of  thirty  de- 
grees from  those  of  the  published  chart,  agreed 
precisely  with  his  published  report."  Thus  Hall 
merited  the  commemorative  inscription  on  the 
brass  tablet  which  the  British  polar  expedition 
of  1875,  with  a  generous  appreciativeness  cred- 
itable to  its  own  brave  men,  erected  to  Hall's 
memory  over  his  lonely  northern  grave.  It 
recognizes  Hall  as  one  "  who  sacrificed  his  life 
in  the  advancement  of  science,"  and  further 
recites  that  they,  "  following  in  his  footsteps, 
have  profited  by  his  experience." 


XII. 
GEORGE  WASHINGTON  DE  LONG, 

And  the  Siberian  Arctic  Ocean. 

Of  all  the  routes  followed  by  explorers  at- 
tempting to  extend  northward  our  knowledge  of 
unknown  lands,  there  is  one  which,  more  than 
all  others,  seems  to  have  been  closed  by  nature  to 
the  daring  enterprise  of  man.  While  successful 
voyages  to  the  northward  of  America,  and  along 
the  meridian  of  Spitzbergen,  have  been  of  fre- 
quent occurrence,  yet  it  has  been  the  fortune  of 
one  expedition  only  to  penetrate  the  vast  ice- 
pack that  covers  the  Arctic  Ocean  to  the  north 
of  Siberia,  and  give  an  account  thereof. 

This  expedition,  organized  through  the  munif- 
icence of  James  Gordon  Bennett,  Jr.,  and  known 
to  the  world  as  the  Jeannette  Expedition,  was 
commanded  by  De  Long,  then  a  lieutenant-com- 
mander of  the  United  States  Navy. 

George  Washington  De  Long  was  born  in  New 
York  City,  March  22,  1844,  and  entered  the  Unit- 
ed States  Navy,  by  graduation  from  the  Naval 
Academy,  in  1865.  He  rose  to  be  a  lieutenant- 
commander  and  rendered  ordinary  naval  service 
until  1873,  when  special  duty  fell  to  his  lot  which 
turned  his  thoughts  to  Arctic  research. 


George  Washington  De  Long. 


314  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

The  rescue  of  the  drift  party  of  the  Polaris 
naturally  caused  great  alarm  as  to  the  safety  of 
the  remainder  of  her  crew,  and  with  the  de- 
spatch of  the  Tigress  into  the  waters  of  Smith 
Sound,  came  orders  for  the  Juniata,  to  which  De 
Long  was  attached,  to  visit  the  coasts  of  western 
Greenland  for  additional  search  for  the  missing 
explorers.  The  Juniata  proceeded  to  Upernivik, 
as  far  as  it  was  deemed  safe  for  the  man-of-war 
to  venture,  but  its  brave  and  sagacious  com- 
mander, Captain  D.  L.  Braine,  of  the  Navy, 
thought  it  most  necessary  to  search  the  fast  in- 
shore ice  of  Melville  Bay,  along  which  he  cor- 
rectly surmised  they  would  conduct  a  retreat  by 
boats.  For  this  duty — novel,  hazardous,  and  dif- 
ficult —  De  Long  promptly  volunteered.  For 
this  dangerous  trip  the  steam-launch  Little  Juni- 
ata, some  32  feet  long  and  8  wide,  was  selected. 
Her  crew  consisted  of  Lieutenant  Chipp,  Ensign 
May,  ice -pilot  Dodge,  who  had  served  with 
Hayes,  and  four  others,  while  she  was  equipped 
and  provisioned  for  sixty  days.  In  this  small 
craft  De  Long,  following  the  fast  ice,  reached  a 
point  immediately  off  Cape  York,  when  he  was 
struck  by  a  violent  gale.  The  sea  was  so  heavy 
that  his  only  chance  of  safety  lay  in  carrying  sail, 
steam  being  useless,  to  keep  the  boat  under  con- 
trol. The  violence  of  the  wind  disrupted  the  in- 
shore ice,  threatening  the  launch  continually ; 
owing  to  fog  the  presence  of  immense  icebergs 
made  navigation  more  dangerous  than  ever ; 
high  seas  constantly  broke  over  her,  soaking 
everything    on    board    and   harassing  the   crew 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON  DE  LONG  315 

with  the  imminent  danger  of  swamping.  Thirty 
hours  the  gale  histed,  leaving  the  party  in  the 
last  stages  of  exhaustion,  wet  to  the  skin  and  be- 
numbed with  cold,  with  closed  floes  to  the  north 
and  east  and  the  dangerous  "  middle  pack  "  to 
the  west.  Under  these  conditions  De  Long  re- 
luctantly abandoned  the  search  and  returned. 

This  brief  experience  created  an  interest  in 
northern  work  which  never  abated,  and  as  a  re- 
sult, De  Long,  the  voyage  ended,  approached 
James  Gordon  Bennett,  Jr.,  who  was  favorable 
to  his  projects.  Nothing,  however,  was  done 
until  November,  1876,  after  the  return  of  the 
Nares's  expedition,  when  the  exploration  was 
decided  on ;  but  no  vessel  could  be  procured. 
Eventually  Sir  Allen  Young,  an  Arctic  explorer 
of  note,  was  persuaded  to  sell  the  Pandora,  in 
which  he  had  twice  made  polar  voyages. 

The  ship  was,  by  Act  of  Congress,  given  an 
American  register  under  the  name  of  Jeannette, 
strengthened  under  naval  supervision,  and  put  in 
commission  under  the  orders  and  instructions  of 
the  Secretar)^  of  the  Navy,  with  full  discipline  in 
force ;  but  the  expense  of  the  expedition — re- 
pairs, equipment,  and  pay — was  met  by  Bennett. 

On  July  8,  1879,  the  Jeannette  sailed  from  San 
Francisco,  commanded  by  De  Long,  and  offi- 
cered by  Lieutenant  Chipp,  Master  Danenhowcr, 
Chief  Engineer  Melville,  Doctor  Ambler,  an  ice- 
pilot,  two  scientists,  twenty-four  petty  officers 
and  men.  The  route  selected  by  De  Long  was 
via  Behring  Strait,  apjjarently  under  the  im- 
pression that  Wrangel  Land  was  continental  in 


316  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

extent,  an  idea  supported  by  the  German  geog- 
rapher Petermann,  whose  advice  De  Long  had 
sought,  and  along  the  shores  of  which  coursed 
the  northern  current  that  swept  forever  out  of 
the  vision  of  man  such  whalers  as  were  fully 
beset  by  the  ice-pack  north  of  Asia. 

Before  pursuing  his  own  exploration  De  Long, 
in  compliance  with  instructions  from  the  Navy 
Department,  made  search  for  the  Vega,  in  which 
ship  Nordenskiold,  circumnavigating  Europe 
and  Asia,  had  wintered  at  Cape  Serdze  Kamen,  in 
6j°  12'  N.  latitude,  on  the  northwestern  coast  of 
Asia.  On  reaching  this  point  he  learned  that 
the  Vega  had  comfortably  wintered  and  had 
passed  south,  thus  confirming  the  report  he  had 
gained  from  the  natives  at  St.  Lawrence  Bay. 

They  at  once  steamed  northward,  thankful,  as 
De  Long  records,  *'  that  Nordenskiold  was  safe, 
and  we  might  proceed  on  our  way  toward  Wran- 
gel  Land."  Ice  was  soon  fallen  in  with,  and, 
after  preliminary  efforts  to  proceed  directly  to 
the  north,  which  impenetrable  floes  prevented, 
De  Long,  on  September  5,  1879,  "got  up  a  full 
head  of  steam  and  entered  the  pack  through  the 
best -looking  lead  in  the  general  direction  of 
Herald  Island,"  which  was  plainly  visible  at  a 
distance  of  forty  miles. 

It  was  De  Long's  intention  on  leaving  San 
Francisco  to  explore  this  land  the  first  winter, 
but  completely  beset  by  heavy  floes,  in  71°  35' 
N.  latitude,  175°  W.  longitude,  his  ship  never 
escaped.  In  hopes  that  information  of  value 
might  be  had  from  a  visit  to  Herald  Island,  an 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON  BE  LONG 


317 


unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  to  reach  it  by 
dog-sledge  over  the  fast-cementing  pack,  but 
the  party  was  turned  back  by  impassable  leads. 

It  soon  became  evident  that  the  Jeannette  was 
drifting  steadily  with  the  entire  pack.     First,  the 


direction  was  to  the  north,  taking  the  ship  out 
of  sight  of  Herald  Island,  but  next  it  changed 
to  the  southwest,  bringing  that  land  again  in 
view.  While  the  drift  was  by  a  devious  and 
very  irregular  course,  yet  it  was  in  the  general 
direction  of  northwest,  from  71°  35'  N.,  and  175° 
\V.,  at  besetment,  to  Tj"  15'  N.,  and  155°  E.,  when 
the  ship  was  finally  crushed  by  the  pack.  In 
investigating  the   cause   of  the  drift,  De   Long 


318  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

says :  "  As  to  the  currents  in  this  part  of  the 
Arctic  Ocean,  I  think  our  drift  is  demonstrating 
that  they  are  the  local  creation  of  the  wind  for 
the  time  being.  As  our  drift  in  resulting  direc- 
tion has  been  northwest  since  our  besetment,  so 
the  greater  amount  of  wind  has  been  from  the 
southeast ;  our  short  and  irregular  side-drift  east 
and  west,  and  occasionally  to  south,  being  due 
to  correspondingly  short  and  irregular  winds 
from  northwest  or  east." 

The  party  settled  down  to  their  regular  life, 
which  though  very  monotonous  soon  had  an  ele- 
ment of  excitement  and  danger  introduced  that 
never  passed  away  in  entirety.  This  was  the 
threatened  disruption  of  the  pack,  which,  seem- 
ingly without  cause,  would  change  its  form  and 
position  with  such  suddenness  and  violence  as 
to  endanger  the  safety  of  the  ship.  On  Novem- 
ber 13,  1879,  without  warning,  the  pack  sepa- 
rated on  a  line  with  the  ship's  keel,  the  port 
snow-wall  being  carried  with  the  pack  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  away,  leaving  open  water, 
that  fortunately  froze  over  before  other  violent 
changes  took  place. 

De  Long  writes :  "  This  steady  strain  is  fear- 
ful ;  seemingly  we  are  not  secure  for  a  moment. 
.  .  ,  Living  over  a  powder-mill,  waiting  for 
an  explosion,  would  be  a  similar  mode  of  exist- 
ence. ...  I  sleep  with  my  clothes  on,  and 
start  up  anxiously  at  every  crack  .  .  .  of  the 
ship's  frame." 

Almost  b}-  intervention  of  Providence,  as  it 
seemed,  the  Jeannette  escaped  destruction  from 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON  DE  LONG  319 

these  violent  disruptions,  which,  except  that  of 
January  19,  1880,  left  her,  during  the  first  winter, 
comparatively  unharmed.  On  that  day,  with  ter- 
rible groaning  and  grinding,  the  main  pack  was 
fearfully  agitated  ;  no  large  openings  were  seen 
and  the  ice  acted  as  though  its  entire  periphery 
was  subjected  to  steady  and  irresistible  pressure, 
which  being  toward  the  centre  caused  the  whole 
surface  to  buckle  up  irregularly.  Enormous 
pieces  of  ice  piling  up  under  the  stern  of  the 
Jeannette  brought  a  tremendous  longitudinal 
pressure  on  the  ship  and  broke  her  fore-foot, 
which  caused  a  serious  leak.  It  was  only 
through  the  indomitable  energy  and  great  pro- 
fessional skill  of  Melville  that  the  leak  was  got 
under  control,  and  later  cared  for,  without  taxing 
greatly  their  precious  stock  of  fuel. 

The  winter  passed  with  all  in  health  save 
Danenhower,  whose  eyes  becoming  diseased 
necessitated  several  operations  and  permanently 
placed  him  off  duty  for  the  voyage.  The  sum- 
mer of  1880  came,  found  them  fast  embedded  in 
the  ice,  and  went  without  release.  Autumn 
passed,  winter  came,  and  even  the  opening  year 
of  1 88 1  found  them  with  conditions  unchanged, 
as  De  Long  recites :  "  A  disabled  and  leaking 
ship,  a  seriously  sick  officer,  an  uneasy  and  ter- 
rible pack,  constantly  diminishing  coal-pile  and 
provisions,  and  far  from  the  Siberian  coast."  A 
break  came,  however,  with  the  discovery  of  new 
land  in  May,  along  the  north  coast  of  which  the 
Jeannette  drifted  slowly.  On  May  31st  a  part\' 
was  sent  U)  examine  the  island,  for  such  it  proved 


320  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

to  be,  Melville  being  in  command,  as  Chipp  was 
then  on  the  sick-list,  Melville,  despite  the  open 
condition  of  the  ice,  succeeded  in  landing  on 
June  3,  1 88 1,  his  third  day  out.  He  was  obliged 
to  carry  his  instruments  and  provisions,  at  the 
risk  of  his  life,  through  the  moving  pack.  It 
proved  to  be  a  desolate,  ice-capped,  rocky  islet, 
almost  destitute  of  vegetation  and  inhabited  only 
by  dovekies,  who  nested  in  the  inaccessible 
cliffs  adjoining  the  discharging  glaciers.  An- 
other island  appearing,  De  Long  named  the  two; 
Jeannette,  in  76°  47'  N.,  159°  E.,  and  Henrietta, 
in  77°  08'  N.,  158°  E. 

The  end  of  the  besetment  came  at  last.  On 
June  12,  1881,  in  77°  15'  N.,  155°  E.,  the  pack 
showed  signs  of  great  pressure,  the  immense  floes' 
seeming  to  be  alive  in  their  motion,  and  despite 
all  efforts  the  Jeannette  was  terribly  nipped,  her 
bows  being  thrown  high  in  air.  It  was  evident 
that  escape  was  hardly  possible.  Steps  were  im- 
mediately taken  to  abandon  ship,  and  everything 
of  value  or  use  w^as  speedily  withdrawn,  with 
boats,  sledges,  etc.,  to  a  safe  distance.  Early  the 
next  morning  the  ice  opened  a  little,  and  the 
Jeannette  immediately  sank,  with  colors  flying, 
in  thirty-eight  fathoms  of  water. 

De  Long  and  his  party  thus  found  themselves 
adrift  in  the  Polar  Sea,  more  than  three  hundred 
miles  from  the  nearest  point  of  the  mainland  of 
Asia,  and  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from 
the  New  Siberian  Islands.  While  the  condition 
of  affairs  seemed  desperate,  De  Long  never  de- 
spaired.   Lieutenant  Danenhower  being  disabled, 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON  DE  LONG 


;2i 


and  Chipp  sick,  Dc  Long's  main  dependence  was 
in  his  chief   engineer,  Melville,  who  was  well, 
strong,  energetic,  and  fertile  in  expedients. 
Thev  had  five  boats  (two  very  small),  nine  sleds, 


provisions  for  sixty  days,  ammunition,  instru- 
ments and  records ;  a  terrible  load  for  the  party, 
as  five  men  were  off  duty,  and  several  others 
too  weak  to  do  their  share  in  the  drag-ropes. 
There  remained,  however,  twenty  dogs,  whose 
utility  was  questionable,  as  they  soon  consumed 
21 


322      EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

more  in  weight  than  they  ever  hauled.  The  ice 
was  very  rough,  large  openings  were  frequent, 
snow  often  impeded  progress,  roads  had  to  be 
made,  and  on  occasion  all  the  stores  and  men 
had  to  be  ferried  across  wide  water-lanes.  At 
the  beginning  there  was  so  much  baggage 
that  seven  separate  loads  were  hauled,  causing 
the  men  to  travel  thirteen  times  over  the  same 
road,  but  this  was  soon  unnecessary,  as  weights 
were  gradually  reduced. 

To  add  to  De  Long's  discouragement  he  dis- 
covered that  they  were  under  the  influence  of  a 
northwest  drift,  and  after  six  days'  travel  due 
south  were  twenty-eight  miles  further  north  than 
when  the  ship  sunk.  He  refrained  from  discour- 
aging the  men  by  this  information,  but  changing 
his  course  to  the  southwest,  got  out  of  the  drift. 

On  July  nth  land  was  discovered,  and  turning 
toward  it  the  shipwrecked  and  exhausted  men 
reached  it  July  28,  1881  ;  it  was  in  76°  38'  N.,  148° 
E.,  and  was  called  Bennett  Island.  Landing  was 
effected  by  ferrying  and  crossing  heav)%  fast-mov- 
ing floes,  and  the  danger  was  greatly  enhanced 
by  the  low  water,  which  made  it  extremely  dan- 
gerous work  to  attain  the  surface  of  the  over- 
hanging ice-foot.  The  cliffs  were  alive  with 
birds,  which  was  a  welcome  change  of  diet,  to 
the  sick  men  especially.  The  island  was  quite 
mountainous,  with  several  grass-covered  valleys  ; 
a  seam  of  coal  was  found  and  signs  of  consider- 
able animal  life. 

Recuperated  by  their  nine  days'  rest,  the  par- 
ty started  south  on  August  8th,  and  landed  on 


324  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

Thaddeus  Island,  of  the  New  Siberian  group, 
August  20,  1 88 1.  It  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  on 
the  dangers  and  hardships  which  this  unprece- 
dented journey  entailed  on  the  members  of  this 
party,  which  were  met  with  fortitude,  courage, 
and  energy  that  made  its  successful  issue  one  of 
the  most  notable  efforts  in  the  history  of  man, 
overcoming  obstacles  almost  insui-mountable. 

This  remarkable  journey  had  been  so  far  made 
alternately  by  sledge  and  boat,  owing  to  the 
broken  condition  of  the  Polar  pack  ;  from  Thad- 
deus Island,  however,  an  open  sea  enabled  them 
to  proceed  in  boats,  which  were  respectively 
commanded  by  De  Long,  Chipp,  and  Melville. 
On  September  12th  a  severe  storm  separated  the 
boats  off  the  Lena  Delta ;  Chipp  with  eight  men 
were  lost,  while  Melville,  with  nine  others, 
reached  a  small  village  through  one  of  the  east- 
ern mouths  of  the  Lena. 

De  Long  landed,  in  77°  15'  N.,  155°  E.,  Sep- 
tember 17th,  with  Dr.  Ambler  and  twelve  men, 
having  been  obliged  to  abandon  his  boat,  ow- 
ing to  the  shallowness  of  the  river.  He  took 
with  him  the  ship's  records,  arms,  ammunition, 
medicines,  necessary  camp  equipments,  and  four 
days'  provisions,  which  were  carried  on  the 
men's  shoulders.  Fuel  proved  abundant,  and 
Alexey,  their  interpreter,  killed  two  deer,  thus 
improving  the  situation.  Retarded  by  the  pres- 
ence of  sick  men  and  by  the  weight  of  cumber- 
some records,  they  followed  slowly  southward 
the  barren  shores  of  the  Lena,  travelling  through 
snow  and  over  ice  which  broke  readily.     Their 


GEORGE    WASHING  TOX  BE  LONG  325 

feet  were  soon  in  terrible  condition,  and  eventu- 
ally an  ulcer  on  Ericksen's  foot  rendered  partial 
amputation  necessary  on  September  29th.  De 
Long  then  records  the  terrible  situation  :  They 
were  confronted  by  a  tributary  of  the  Lena 
which  must  freeze  before  they  could  cross,  and 
as  to  Ericksen,  if  forced  along,  he  could  not  re- 
cover, and  "  if  I  remained  here  and  kept  every- 
body with  me,  Ericksen's  days  would  be  length- 
ened a  little  at  the  risk  of  our  all  dying  from 
starvation."  Ice  formed  in  a  couple  of  days, 
and  they  proceeded,  dragging  Ericksen  on  a  sled. 

October  3d,  food  entirel}'  failing,  their  dog 
was  killed  and  cooked,  giving  them  strength  the 
following  day  to  reach  a  deserted  hut  large 
enough  to  hold  the  party.  Here  they  were 
storm-stayed  two  days ;  Ericksen  dying,  Alexey 
hunting  unsuccessfully,  the  drifting  snow  and 
piercing  cold — all  these  served  to  plunge  the 
party  into  despair.  De  Long  writes :  "  What,  in 
God's  name,  is  going  to  become  of  us? — fourteen 
pounds  of  dog  meat  left  and  twenty-five  miles  to 
a  possible  settlement.  .  .  .  Read  the  burial 
service  and  carried  our  departed  shipmate's 
body  to  the  river,  where  he  was  buried."  Their 
last  food  was  eaten  October  7th,  and  nothing 
remained  except  old  tea-leaves  and  two  quarts  of 
alcohol ;  but  Alexey  shot  a  ptarmigan,  of  which 
a  thin  soup  was  made. 

On  October  9th  the  exhausted  condition  of 
some  of  the  men  and  an  open,  unfordable  creek 
debarred  further  progress  of  the  party  as  a 
whole.     In  this  contingency  De  Long  sent  Nin- 


326 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


dermann  and  Noros  ahead  for  relief,  with  orders 
to  keep  the  west  bank  of  the  Lena  until  they 
reached  a  settlement.     Later  De  Long  advanced 


d   Nindermann. 


a  mile  and  camped  in  a  hole  in  the  bank ;  Alexey 
killed  four  ptarmigans  and  the  party  resorted 
to  their  deer-skin  clothing  for  subsistence,  but 
without  avail.  The  last  entry  in  De  Long's 
diary,  October  30,  1881,  records  all  dead  except 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON  BE  LONG  327 

Collins,  who  was  dying,  Ah  Sam  and  Dr.  Am- 
bler, of  whom  no  mention  was  made. 

Noros  and  Nindermann,  after  a  march  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  miles,  reached  Bulcour, 
which  they  found  deserted.  Seeking  shelter  in 
one  of  the  vacant  huts,  they  were  discovered  by 
a  native,  who  took  them  to  an  adjacent  encamp- 
ment. The  natives  either  did  not  understand  Nin- 
dermann or  were  unwilling  to  go  northward,  for 
despite  his  incessant  and  urgent  entreaties  they 
carried  the  two  seamen  southward  to  Bulun, 
where  they  arrived  on  October  29th,  and  met 
Melville  and  his  party. 

This  energetic  officer,  exhausting  all  practica- 
ble means,  pushed  his  -relief  parties  northward 
to  the  extremity  of  the  Lena  Delta,  but  without 
success.  He  reached  the  Arctic  Ocean,  re- 
covered the  log-books,  chronometer,  and  other 
articles  on  November  14th,  when  a  severe  storm 
obliged  him  to  abandon  the  search.  Renewing 
his  efforts,  in  March,  1882,  he  discovered,  on 
the  23d  of  that  month,  the  bodies  of  his  com- 
panions. 

An  official  inquiry  as  to  the  general  conduct  of 
the  expedition  caused  the  board  of  officers  to  ex- 
press their  opinion  that  the  general  personnel 
were  entitled  to  great  praise  for  their  solidarity 
and  cheerfulness,  their  constancy  and  endurance. 
The  zeal,  energy,  and  professional  aptitude  of 
Melville  were  noticed,  and  special  commendation 
given  to  De  Long  for  the  high  qualities  displayed 
by  him  in  the  conduct  of  the  expedition. 

The  scientific  observations   of   the  Jeannette 


328 


EXPLORERS  AJSB   TRAVELLERS 


expedition  must  be  of  considerable  value,  involv- 
ing as  they  do  hydrographic,  magnetic,  and 
meteorological  observations  over  an  extended 
portion   of   the   earth's    surface   previously    un- 


Finding  the   Bodies. 


known,  and  it  appears  surprising  that  after  all 
these  years  they  remain  undiscussed. 

In  addition  may  be  noted  the  importance  of 
De  Long's  hydrographic  contributions,  covering 
some  fifty  thousand  square  miles  of  polar  ocean, 
which  indicate  with  equal  clearness  the  character 
of  fifty  thousand   other  square   miles  of  area  to 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON  DE  LONG  329 

the  south,  and  thus  prove  the  Siberian  Arctic 
Ocean  to  be  a  shallow  sea,  dotted  with  islands. 

The  geographic  results  are  represented  in  part 
by  the  attainment  of  the  highest  latitude  ever 
reached  in  Asiatic  seas,  and  in  the  discovery  of 
Jeannette,  Henrietta,  and  Bennett  Islands.  Dis- 
coveries, however,  are  both  direct  and  indirect, 
and  to  positive  results  should  be  added  success- 
es of  an  inferential  though  negative  character. 
Through  De  Long's  northwest  drift  the  long- 
sought-for  Wrangel  Land  shrank  from  its  as- 
sumed dimensions  as  a  continent,  connecting, 
under  the  Petermann  hypothesis,  Asia  with 
Greenland,  to  its  reality — a  small  island. 

It  is  to  be  said  that  this  reduction  of  Wrangel 
Land  into  a  little  island  doomed  De  Long's  ex- 
pedition to  certain  failure  and  closed  Behring 
Strait  as  a  promising  route  to  high  latitudes  ;  for 
the  arctic  canon  of  Parry  yet  obtains,  that  with- 
out a  sheltering  coast  no  vessel  can  hope  to 
navigate  safely  the  Polar  Ocean. 

With  the  march  of  time  it  is  not  to  be  expected 
that  geographic  problems  connected  with  the 
vast  ice-covered  ocean  to  the  north  of  Siberia 
will  be  left  unsolved.  These  coming  explorers 
may  be  more  fortunate  than  was  De  Long,  and 
while  profiting  by  his  experiences  they  will 
surpass  his  efforts,  yet  their  successes  cannot 
make  greater  demands  on  the  courage  and  con- 
stancy of  them  and  their  subordinates  than  were 
shown  by  the  gallant  De  Long  and  his  associates 
in  the  fateful  voyage  of  the  Jeannette. 


XIII. 
PAUL    BELLONI    DU    CHAILLU, 

Discoverer  of  the  Dwarfs  and  Gorillas. 

Among  the  thousands  of  vigorous  and  adven- 
turous men  whom  chance  brought  to  light  in 
foreign  climes,  but  who  by  choice  have  cast 
their  lot  with  America,  by  becoming  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  there  are  few  whose  explora- 
tions and  discoveries  have  excited  more  popular 
interest  and  discussion  than  have  those  of  Du 
Chaillu,  the  discoverer,  in  modern  times,  of  the 
dwarfs  and  the  capturer  of  the  gorilla. 

Born  in  Paris,  July  31,  1835,  the  early  environ- 
ments of  Paul  Belloni  Du  Chaillu  fostered  and 
forecast  his  taste  for  African  exploration,  for  his 
father  was  one  of  the  adventurous  Frenchmen 
whose  consular  appointment  and  commercial  en- 
terprises led  him  to  settle  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Gaboon,  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  where  his 
distinguished  son  passed  his  boyhood.  While 
young  Du  Chaillu  was,  doubtless,  well  ground- 
ed in  ordinary  sciences  by  his  instructors,  the 
learned  Jesuit  fathers,  of  Gaboon,  yet  apart  from 
regular  educational  institutions  he  imbibed  other 
wealth  of  learning  by  observation  of  the  rich 
tropical  world   around    him,  and    also   through 


PAVL  BELLONI  DU  VHAILLU  331 

familiar  intercourse  with  neighboring  tribes  ac- 
quired a  knowledge  of  native  tongues  and  craft, 
of  savage  habits  and  character,  which  insured 
his  after-success  in  African  exploration. 

Commercial  pursuits  brought  Du  Chaillu  to 
the  United  States,  in  1852,  when  he  was  so 
strongly  impressed  by  American  institutions 
that  he  became  a  naturalized  citizen  of  the 
United  States. 

Du  Chaillu  was  brought  prominently  before 
the  American  public  by  a  series  of  striking  and 
interesting  articles  on  the  Gaboon  country,  which 
from  their  favorable  reception  strengthened  his 
belief  in  the  importance  of  thoroughly  explor- 
ing certain  portions  of  the  west  coast  of  Africa. 
The  region  selected  for  his  investigations  was 
under  the  burning  sun  of  the  equator,  somewhat 
to  the  north  of  the  Congo  country,  in  the  basins 
drained  by  the  Muni,  Ogowe,  and  Rembo  Rivers, 
which,  owing  to  difificulty  of  access,  extreme  heat, 
prev^ailing  fevers,  and  deadly  climate,  were  prac- 
tically unknown.  Between  1856  and  1859  Du 
Chaillu  journeyed  upward  of  eight  thousand 
miles  through  this  country,  travelling  on  foot, 
with  no  white  companion,  and,  with  the  aid  of 
natives,  cursorily  explored  nearly  one  hundred 
thousand  square  miles  of  virgin  territory.  Work- 
ing with  the  ardent  zeal  of  a  naturalist,  his  enor- 
mous ornithological  collection  aggregated  thou- 
sands of  specimens,  and  in  this  collection  alone 
he  added  some  sixty  new  species  of  birds  to  the 
domain  of  science.  Among  the  quadrupeds,  he 
discovered  no  less  than  twenty  new  species,  and 


333  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

among  the  most  important  animals  brought  to 
light  were  the  very  remarkable  nest- building 
ape,  with  its  unknown  and  its  almost  equally  ex- 
traordinary brother  the  koo-loo-lamba,  and  his 
observations  of  the  almost  unknown  gorilla  were 
most  interesting  and  valuable. 

In  ethnology  he  accumulated  a  number  of  in- 
valuable native  arms  and  implements,  which 
now  adorn  the  British  Museum,  Space  fails  in 
which  to  recite  his  intense  sufferings,  during 
these  explorations,  from  semi-starvation,  the  wild 
beasts  of  the  dense  forests,  the  venomous  reptiles 
of  the  river  valleys,  the  attacks  of  ferocious  ants, 
and  other  intolerable  poisonous  insects  which 
infest  the  interior. 

There  are  many  interesting  accounts  of  curi- 
ous quadrupeds  in  Du  Chaillu's  book,  "Advent- 
ures in  Equatorial  Africa,"  but  none  appeals 
more  strongly  to  most  readers  than  that  of  the 
gorilla.  Traditions  from  antiquity,  the  relation 
of  Hanno,  the  Carthaginian  navigator  of  350 
B.C.,  set  forth  the  existence  of  such  an  animal, 
but  no  white  man  had  ever  seen  a  gorilla,  ex- 
cept Andrew  Battell,  early  in  the  seventeenth 
century.  Nearly  ten  years  before  the  explora- 
tions of  Du  Chaillu  the  gorilla  had  been,  how- 
ever, brought  to  the  notice  of  naturalists  by  Dr. 
Savage,  of  Boston,  who  had  received  a  skull  from 
the  Rev.  J.  L.  Wilson,  an  American  missionary 
on  the  Gaboon. 

From  boyhood  up  Du  Chaillu  had  heard  from 
the  natives  of  Gaboon  fearful  stories  of  the  cun- 
ning, strength,  and  ferocity  of  this  ape,  which  is 


PAUL  BELLOm  DU  CIIAILLU  333 

the  most  dreaded  animal  on  the  west  coast  of 
Africa.  For  years  he  had  longed  for  an  oppor- 
tunity to  hunt  the  gorilla,  and  when  he  first  saw 
its  tracks,  which  threw  his  native  hunters  into 
alarm,  he  relates  that  his  sensations  were  inde- 
scribable, his  feelings  so  intense  as  to  be  painful, 
and  his  heart-throbs  so  violent  that  he  actually 
feared  the  animal  would  be  alarmed  by  them. 

Du  Chaillu  chronicles  the  end  of  his  first  suc- 
cessful hunt  as  follows  : 

"  Before  us  stood  an  immense  male  gorilla. 
He  had  gone  through  the  jungle  on  his  all-fours; 
but  when  he  saw  our  party  he  erected  himself 
and  looked  us  boldly  in  the  face.  He  stood 
about  a  dozen  yards  from  us,  and  was  a  sight,  I 
think,  never  to  forget.  Nearly  six  feet  high  (he 
proved  two  inches  shorter),  with  immense  body, 
huge  chest,  and  great  muscular  arms  ;  with 
fiercely  glaring,  large,  deep-gray  eyes,  and  a  hell- 
ish expression  of  face,  which  seemed  to  me  like 
some  nightmare  vision,  thus  stood  before  us 
this  king  of  the  African  forests.  He  was  not 
afraid  of  us.  He  stood  there  and  beat  his  breast 
with  his  huge  fists  till  it  resounded  like  an  im- 
mense bass-drum — which  is  their  mode  of  offer- 
ing defiance — meantime  giving  vent  to  roar  after 
roar.  The  roar  of  the  gorilla  is  the  most  singu- 
lar and  awful  noise  heard  in  these  African  woods. 
It  begins  with  a  sharp  bark,  like  an  angry  dog, 
then  glides  into  a  deep  bass  roll,  which  literally 
and  closely  resembles  the  roll  of  distant  thunder 
along  the  sky,  for  which  I  have  sometimes  been 
tempted  to  take  it  where  I  did  not  see  the  ani- 


334:  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


The  Gorilla.     {Troglodytes  Gorilla.) 

mal.  So  deep  is  it  that  it  seems  to  proceed  less 
from  the  mouth  and  throat  than  from  the  deep 
chest  and  vast  paunch.  He  again  sent  forth  a 
thunderous  roar,  and  now  truly  he  reminded  me 
of  nothing-  but  some  hellish  dream-creature — a 
being  of  that  hideous  order,  half-man  half-beast, 
which  we  find  pictured  by  old  artists  in  some 
representations  of  the  infernal  regions." 


PAUL  BELLONI  DU  CUAILLU  335 

The  explorer  relates  that  flying  gorillas  so  re- 
sembled men  running  for  their  lives,  and  their 
discordant  cries  seemed  so  human,  that  he  felt 
almost  like  a  murderer  as  he  shot  them. 

Having  obtained  a  number  of  specimens,  he 
now  used  his  utmost  endeavors  to  obtain  an 
ape  alive,  and  speaks  of  his  success  as  "  one  of 
the  greatest  pleasures  of  my  life ; "  to  his  great 
grief,  however,  the  intractable  and  savage  brute 
soon  died.     Regarding  it,  Du  Chaillu  writes : 

"  Some  hunters  who  had  been  out  on  my  ac- 
count brought  in  a  young  gorilla  alive.  I  can- 
not describe  the  emotions  with  which  I  saw  the 
struggling  little  brute  dragged  into  the  village. 
All  the  hardships  I  had  endured  in  Africa  were 
rewarded  in  that  moment.  It  was  a  little  fellow 
of  between  two  and  three  years  old,  two  feet  six 
inches  in  height,  and  as  fierce  and  stubborn  as  a 
grown  animal  could  have  been." 

Several  were  captured  from  time  to  time,  but 
all  died  after  short  confinement.  Every  effort  to 
subdue  their  ferocity,  whether  by  force  or  by  per- 
sistent kindness,  utterly  failed  ;  they  were  never 
other  than  morose,  bellicose,  and  treacherous. 

Another  very  interesting  animal  is  the  nest- 
building  ape,  a  before  unknown  species,  which 
was  discovered  by  our  explorer  almost  by  acci- 
dent.    Du  Chaillu  says : 

"  As  I  was  trudging  along,  rather  tired  of  the 
sport,  I  happened  to  look  up  at  a  high  tree  which 
we  were  passing,  and  saw  a  most  singular-looking 
shelter  built  in  its  branches.  I  asked  Aboko 
whether  th<?  hunters  here  had  this  way  to  sleep 


336      EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

in  the  woods,  but  was  told,  to  my  surprise,  that 
this  very  ingenious  nest  was  built  by  the  7ishicgo 
mbouve,  an  ape.  The  material  is  leafy  branches 
with  which  to  make  the  roof,  and  vines  to  tie 
these  branches  to  the  tree.  The  tying  is  done 
so  neatly,  and  the  roof  is  so  well  constructed 
that,  until  I  saw  the  nshiego  actually  occupying 
his  habitation  I  could  scarce  persuade  myself 
that  human  hands  had  not  built  all.  It  sheds 
rain  perfectly,  being  neatly  rounded  on  top  for 
this  purpose.  The  material  being  collected,  the 
male  goes  up  and  builds  the  nest,  while  the  fe- 
male brings  him  the  branches  and  vines." 

Yet  another  member  of  the  ape  family,  discov- 
ered by  our  explorer,  deserves  passing  notice  in 
his  own  words : 

"  The  koo-loo-lamba  has  for  distinctive  marks 
a  very  round  head ;  whiskers  running  quite 
around  the  face  and  below  the  chin ;  the  face  is 
round ;  the  cheek-bones  prominent ;  the  cheeks 
sunken ;  the  jaws  are  not  very  prominent — less 
so  than  in  any  of  the  apes  ;  the  hair  is  black,  long 
on  the  arm,  which  was,  however,  partly  bare. 
This  ape,  whose  singular  cry  distinguishes  it  at 
once  from  all  its  congeners  in  these  wilds,  is  re- 
markable as  bearing  a  closer  general  resemblance 
to  man  than  any  other  ape  yet  known.  It  was 
very  rare,  and  I  was  able  to  obtain  but  one  speci- 
men of  it.  This  is  smaller  than  the  adult  male 
gorilla,  and  stouter  than  the  female  gorilla.  The 
head  is  its  most  remarkable  point.  This  struck 
me  at  once  as  having  an  expression  curiously 
like  an  Esquimau  or  Chinaman." 


PAUL  BELLOXI  DU  CUAJLLU  337 

Among  the  worst  pests  of  Africa  are  ants, 
especially  the  bashikouay,  which  travel  in  a  line 
about  two  inches  wide  and  often  miles  in  length. 
Du  Chaillu  sa3^s :  "  They  devour  and  attack  all 
with  irresistible  fury.  The  elephant  and  gorilla 
fl)',  the  black  men  run  for  their  lives.  In  an 
incredibly  short  time  a  leopard  or  deer  is  over- 
whelmed, killed,  and  eaten.  They  seem  to  travel 
day  and  night.  Often  have  I  been  awakened 
out  of  sleep  and  obliged  to  rush  from  my  hut  and 
into  the  water  to  save  my  life.  A  bashikoua}^ 
army  makes  a  clean  sweep,  even  ascending  to 
the  tops  of  the  highest  trees  in  pursuit  of  their 
prey." 

The  results  of  his  four  years  of  research  in  the 
interests  of  ethnography,  geography,  and  natural 
history,  were  placed  before  the  public  in  a  valu- 
able work  entitled  "  Explorations  and  Advent- 
ures in  Equatorial  Africa."  The  book  gave  rise 
to  bitter,  harsh,  unjust  criticisms,  and  engen- 
dered endless  discussions.  Du  Chaillu's  journey 
to  the  interior  was  entirely  discredited,  and  his 
accounts  of  the  animals  and  natives  were  charac- 
terized as  mere  fabrications.  Discoveries  neces- 
sarily develop  discrepancies  between  the  realities 
brought  to  light  and  existing  beliefs  produced 
through  inference  or  imagination ;  then,  as  has 
many  another  discover  in  science  or  geography, 
Du  Chaillu  learned  how  slow  is  the  willingness 
of  a  jealous  mind  to  relinquish  its  favorite  error 
for  a  conflicting  truth. 

Justification  came  speedily,  for  the  explora- 
tions of  Serval  and  Bellay,  of  the  very  next  year, 


338  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

proved  the  accuracy  of  Du  Chaillu's  account  of 
the  great  Ogowe  River,  and  indicated  the  gen- 
eral correctness  of  his  map  of  the  Ashira  country. 
Burton  confirmed  his  reports  regarding  the  can- 
nibalistic habits  of  the  Fans,  and  other  statements 
were  speedily  corroborated. 

Stung  to  the  quick  by  the  adverse  criticisms 
Du  Chaillu,  although  suffering  from  the  effects 
of  fevers  contracted  in  his  long  residence  in 
Western  Africa,  determined  to  repeat  the  jour- 
ney with  such  precautions  regarding  his  ob- 
servations as  would  be  absolutely  convincing 
as  to  their  truthfulness ;  especially  he  deter- 
mined to  capture  and  bring  to  Europe  a  living 
gorilla.  To  ensure  accuracy  he  went  through  a 
course  of  instruction  in  the  use  of  instruments, 
learning  to  make,  test,  and  reduce  astronomical 
and  hypsometrical  observations,  and  acquired 
proficiency  in  the  then  difficult  art  of  photog- 
raphy. As  regards  geographical  explorations 
he  had  a  vague  hope  that  he  might  reach  from 
the  west  coast  of  Africa  some  unknown  tributary 
of  the  Nile,  down  which  he  might  be  able  to 
reach  the  main  river  and  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 

Leaving  England  in  August,  1863,  Du  Chaillu's 
first  destination  was  the  mouth  of  Fernand  Vaz 
River,  about  one  hundred  and  ten  miles  south  of 
the  Gaboon,  this  point  being  selected  both  be- 
cause he  knew  the  natives  and  also  because  that 
river  valley  being  unknown  afforded  him  virgin 
ground  from  the  beginning  of  his  journey. 

In  landing  through  the  terrible  surf  that  makes 
entrance  into  the  Fernand  Vaz  so  dangerous,  Du 


PAUL  BELLOyi  DU  CHAILLU 


339 


Chaillu  was  nearly  drowned  and  all  his  astro- 
nomical instruments  and  medicines  were  lost  or 
damaged.  This  necessitated  his  delay  in  that 
region  until  other  instruments  could  be  had 
from  England ;  but  the  time  was  not  lost,  for  he 
had  ample  opportunity  of  further  studying  the 


habits  of  the  gorillas,  which  abound  there ;  fort- 
unately he  captured  four,  an  adult  and  three 
young,  one  of  which  he  shipped  alive  to  Lon- 
don, but  it  died  during  the  voyage. 

Du  Chaillu  started  on  his  journe}'  with  ten 
Commi  negroes,  previous  servitors,  as  his  body- 
guard, and  fifty  porters  in  place  of  the  hundred 


340  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

needed,  thus  making  double  trips  necessary  for 
a  while.  Following  up  the  Fernand  Vaz  River 
to  its  tributary,  the  Rembo,  he  left  this  latter 
stream  at  Obindshi  and  travelled  southeasterly 
to  Olenda.  Here  a  council  was  held  by  the  local 
chief,  who  forbade  him  to  enter  the  Apingi 
country,  but  allowed  him  to  proceed  to  the  Ashi- 
ra  region,  where  he  was  long  delayed  and  robbed 
by  the  natives.  In  crossing  the  Ngunie  River, 
on  his  way  eastward  to  the  Ishogo  country,  he 
was  surprised  to  obtain  ferriage  in  a  large,  flat- 
bottomed  canoe,  which  carried  baggage  and 
party  across  in  seven  journeys. 

Near  the  end  of  June,  while  traversing  a  tract 
of  wild  forest  near  Yangue,  Du  Chaillu  came 
suddenly  upon  a  cluster  of  most  extraordinary 
and  diminutive  huts,  which  he  was  told  were  oc- 
cupied by  a  tribe  of  dwarf  negroes.  In  his  pre- 
vious journey  in  the  Apingi  country  he  had 
given  no  credence  to  exaggerated  descriptions 
and  reports  that  had  often  come  to  his  ears  con- 
cerning dwarf  tribes,  assuming  the  stories  to  be 
fables.  Now,  however,  with  these  Gurious  huts 
before  him  he  pressed  on  eager  to  obtain  per- 
sonal information  concerning  these  little  folks, 
whose  existence  had  been  vouched  for  centuries 
before  by  Pomponius  Mela,  Herodotus,  and 
Strabo,  and  who  were  described  in  a  fairly  ac- 
curate way,  by  Andrew  Battell,  in  1625.  In  an- 
swer to  Du  Chaillu's  inquiries  the  natives  said 
that  there  were  many  such  villages  in  the  adja- 
cent forests,  and  that  the  tiny  men  were  called 
the  Obongos. 


PAUL  BELLONI  DU  OlIAILLU  3il 

He  found  the  huts  entirely  deserted,  but  from 
scattered  traces  of  recent  household  effects,  it  was 
quite  evident  that  the  Obongos,  alarmed  at  the 
approach  of  strangers,  had  lied  for  safety  to  the 
dense  jungle  of  the  neighboring  forest.  He  thus 
describes  their  habitations :  "  The  huts  were  of 
a  low,  oval  shape,  like  a  gypsy  tent;  the  highest 
part,  that  near  the  entrance,  was  about  four  feet 
from  the  ground ;  the  greatest  breadth  was  about 
four  feet  also.  On  each  side  were  three  or  four 
sticks  for  the  man  and  woman  to  sleep  on.  The 
huts  were  made  of  flexible  branches  of  trees, 
arched  over  and  fixed  into  the  ground  at  each 
end,  the  longest  branches  being  in  the  middle, 
and  the  others  successively  shorter,  the  whole 
being  covered  with  heavy  leaves." 

On  June  26,  1864,  Du  Chaillu  entered  Niem- 
bouai,  a  large  village  in  Ashango  Land,  in  the 
vicinity  of  which,  he  learned  with  great  joy,  was 
situated  an  inhabited  encampment  of  the  Obon- 
gos, or  hairy  dwarfs,  as  he  terms  them.  The 
Ashango  natives  offered  to  accompany  him,  at 
the  same  time  intimating  that  it  was  likely  the 
village  would  be  found  deserted  ;  for,  said  they, 
the  Obongos  (the  dwarfs)  are  shy  and  timid  as 
the  gazelle,  and  as  wild  as  the  antelope.  To  see 
them,  you  must  take  them  by  surprise.  They 
are  like  to  the  beasts  of  the  field.  They  feed  on 
the  serpents,  rats,  and  mice,  and  on  the  berries 
and  nuts  of  the  forest. 

Du  Chaillu  made  his  first  visit  to  an  Obongo 
encampment  with  three  Ashango  guides,  and 
with  great   precaution    they  silently  entered  a 


342 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


village  of  twelve  huts  to  find  it  long  since  de- 
serted. Fortune  was  more  favorable  at  the  sec- 
ond village,  where,  however,  no  one  was  to  be 
seen  on  entrance.    The  curling  smoke,  calabashes 


A  Pigmy  Warrior. 

of  fresh  water,  and  a  half-cooked  snake  on  living 
coals  indicated  that  the  alarmed  inhabitants  had 
fled  on  their  approach.  A  search  of  the  huts 
resulted  in  disclosing  the  presence  of  three  old 
women,  a  young  man,  and  several  children,  who 
were  almost  paral3^zed  with  fear  at  the  sight  of 


PAUL  BELLONI  DU  GHAILLU  343 

an  unknown  monster — a  white  man.  By  judi- 
cious distribution  of  bananas,  and  especially  of 
beads,  Du  Chaillu  succeeded  in  allaying  their 
fears,  and  later  made  several  visits,  but  confi- 
dence was  never  firmly  established,  and  it  was 
impossible  to  see  the  men  except  as  they  fled  at 
his  approach,  or  at  a  distance  when  they  visited 
the  Ashango  village  for  purposes  of  barter. 

During  his  several  visits  he  carefully  measured 
six  dwarf  women,  whose  average  height  proved 
to  be  four  feet  six  and  one-eighth  inches;  the 
shortest  was  four  feet  four  and  one-half  inches, 
and  the  tallest  five  feet  and  one-quarter  of  an 
inch  ;  the  young  man,  possibly  not  full  grown, 
measured  four  feet  six  inches  in  height. 

Du  Chaillu  says :  "  The  color  of  these  people 
was  a  dirty  yellow,  and  their  eyes  had  an  untam- 
able wildness  that  struck  me  as  very  remarkable. 
In  appearance,  physique,  and  color  they  are  to- 
tally unlike  the  Ashangos,  who  are  very  anxious 
to  disown  kinship  with  them.  They  declare  that 
the  Obongos  intermarry  among  themselves,  sis- 
ters with  brothers.  The  smallness  and  isolation 
of  their  communities  must  necessitate  close  in- 
terbreeding;  and  I  think  it  very  possible  this 
may  cause  the  physical  deterioration  of  their 
race." 

Their  foreheads  were  very  low  and  narrow, 
cheek-bones  prominent,  legs  proportionately 
short,  palms  of  hands  quite  white,  and  their  hair 
short,  curly  tufts,  resembling  little  balls  of  wool, 
which,  according  to  the  young  man  seen  by 
Du  Chaillu,  grew  also,  in  plentiful,  short,  curly 


344  EXPLORERS  AND  TRAVELLERS 

tufts  on  his  legs  and  breast,  a  peculiarity  which 
the  Ashangos  declared  was  common  to  the  Obon- 
go  men. 

These  dwarfs  feed  partly  on  roots,  berries,  and 
nuts  gathered  in  the  forest,  and  partly  on  flesh 
and  fish.  They  are  very  expert  in  capturing 
wild  animals  by  traps  and  pitfalls,  and  in  obtain- 
ing fish  from  the  streams;  and  the  surplus  of 
flesh  is  exchanged  for  plantains  and  "such  simple 
manufactured  articles  as  they  stand  in  need  of. 

Concerning  their  settlements  and  range  of  mi- 
gration Du  Chaillu  adds:  "  The  Obongos  never 
remain  long  in  one  place.  They  are  eminently 
a  migratory  people,  moving  whenever  game  be- 
comes scarce,  but  they  do  not  wander  very  far. 
These  Obongos  are  called  the  Obongos  of  the 
Ashangos  ;  those  who  live  among  the  Njavi  are 
called  Obongo-Njavi,  and  the  same  with  other 
tribes.  Obongos  are  said  to  exist  very  far  to 
the  east,  as  far  as  the  Ashangos  have  any  knowl- 
edge." 

In  his  "  Journey  to  Ashango  Land  "  Du  Chaillu 
gives  quite  a  number  of  words  of  the  Obongo 
language ;  he  considers  their  dialect  to  be  a  mixt- 
ure of  their  original  language  with  that  of  the 
tribe  among  whom  they  reside.  It  appeared 
that  none  of  the  dwarf  women  could  count  more 
than  ten,  probably  the  limit  of  their  numerals. 
Their  weapons  of  offence  and  defence  were  usu- 
ally small  bows  and  arrows,  the  latter  at  times 
poisoned. 

Leaving  Mobano,  i°  53'  S.  latitude,  and  about 
12°  27'    E.   longitude,    by    dead    reckoning,    Du 


I'AUL  DELLOm  DU  CUAILLU 


345 


Chaillu  passed  due  east  to  the  village  of  Mou- 
aou  Kombo,  where,  by  accident,  while  firing 
a  salute,  one   of    his  body-guard    unfortunately 


Qi-y  (^:\^ 


killed  a  villager 


An  effort  to  atone  for  the  ac- 
cident by  presents  would  doubtless  have  been 
successful,  but,  most  unfortunately,  and  despite 
Du  Chaillu's  strict  orders,  his  body-guards  and 


346  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

porters  had  already  irritated  the  Ashangos  by 
offensive  conduct.  Overtures  for  "  blood-money  " 
were  interrupted  by  an  offended  chief  denounc- 
ing the  exploring  party.  Almost  instantly  the 
natives  commenced  beating  their  war-drums,  and 
Du  Chaillu,  realizing  the  danger  and  loading  his 
men  with  his  most  valuable  articles,  retreated 
westward  toward  the  coast.  Before  they  reached 
the  forest  he  and  one  of  his  men  were  wounded 
by  poisoned  arrows.  Pursued  by  the  infuriated 
savages  Du  Chaillu  restrained  his  men  from 
shooting,  when,  demoralized  by  the  situation, 
many  of  his  porters  threw  away  their  loads, 
which  consisted  of  note -books,  maps,  instru- 
ments, photographs,  and  natural  history  collec- 
tions. Curiously  enough  the  instruments  and 
goods  thus  abandoned  by  Du  Chaillu  in  1864, 
were  found  in  1891,  by  an  African  trader,  in  the 
jungle  where  they  had  been  thrown  down  by  the 
retreating  carriers,  having  remained  all  these 
years  untouched  by  the  Ashangos,  who  believed 
they  were  fetich  and  so  regarded  them  with 
superstitious  dread. 

After  retreating  a  few  miles  and  finding  that 
inactivity  and  self-restraint  meant  self-destruc- 
tion, Du  Chaillu  took  the  offensive,  and  drawing 
up  his  men  in  a  favorable  position,  repelled  his 
pursuers  with  considerable  loss.  The  wounds 
from  poisoned  arrows  being  external,  if  subjected 
to  immediate  treatment,  healed  in  a  few  weeks. 

Further  explorations  under  these  circum- 
stances were  impossible,  for  Du  Chaillu  depend- 
ed entirely  for  his  success  on  friendly  relations 


PAUL  BELLONI  DU  CHAILLU  347 

with  the  natives ;  in  consequence  he  returned  to 
the  sea-coast,  and  on  September  27,  1865,  quitted 
the  shores  of  Western  Equatorial  Africa. 

Although  the  second  voyage  of  Du  Chaillu 
into  the  unknown  regions  of  Western  Equatorial 
Africa  rehabilitated  his  reputation  as  a  reliable 
observer,  as  far  as  related  to  geography  and  nat- 
ural history,  yet  his  description  of  the  (3 bongo 
dwarfs  gave  rise  to  further  discussion  and  asper- 
sions. It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  discoveries 
of  Stanley  in  his  last  African  expedition  have  defi- 
nitely settled  this  question  in  Du  Chaillu's  favor, 
and  that  the  studies  of  Lenz,  Marche,  and  Bas- 
tian,  in  and  near  the  region  visited  by  Du  Chaillu, 
confirm  the  accuracy  of  his  descriptions.  In- 
deed the  Obongos  of  Ashango  Land  rise  in  pro- 
portion to  undersized  negroes  when  compared 
with  the  dwarf  queen  found  by  Stanley  on  the 
eastern  edge  of  the  great  equatorial  forest,  who 
measures  only  two  feet  nine  inches  in  height. 

Thus  in  time  has  come  complete  vindication 
of  all  of  Du  Chaillu's  statements  as  to  the  won- 
ders of  the  Ashira  and  Ashango  Lands,  which 
portions  of  Western  Equatorial  Africa  he  was  the 
first  to  explore.  If  the  geographical  extent  of 
his  explorations  give  way  to  that  of  other  Afri- 
can travellers,  yet  it  must  be  admitted  that  he 
stands  scarcely  second  to  any  in  the  number,  im- 
portance, and  interest  of  his  contributions  and 
collections  in  connection  with  ethnography  and 
natural  history  of  Equatorial  Africa. 

In  later  years  Du  Chaillu  has  devoted  his 
attention  to  the  northern  parts  of  Sweden,  Nor- 


348 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


way,  Lapland,  and  Finland,  and  although  his 
travels  in  these  regions  had  no  important  geo- 
graphical outcome,  yet  they  resulted  in  lately 
placing  the  general  public  in  possession  of  many 
interesting  details  of  these  countries,  as  given  in 
his  book  called  "  The  Land  of  the  Midnight 
Sun,"  His  important  work,  "  The  Viking  Age," 
is  an  elaborate  presentation  of  his  theory  that 
the  ancestors  of  the  English-speaking  races  were 
Vikings  and  not  Anglo-Saxons,  and  has  awa- 
kened much  comment  in  the  scientific  world. 
"  Ivar  the  Viking,"  his  latest  book,  is  a  popular 
account  of  Viking  life  and  manners  in  the  third 
and  fourth  centuries. 


Arrows  of  the  African   Pigmies. 


Hti.iy   M.  Stanley. 


XIV. 

STANLEY   AFRICANUS    AND    THE 
CONGO  FREE   STATE. 

The  largest,  the  richest,  and  the  least  known 
of  the  great  continents  is  Africa.  Despite  its 
vast  area,  numerous  tribes,  and  complicated  in- 
terests it  may  be  said  that  its  potential  influences 
as  regards  the  rest  of  the  world  have  been  alter- 
nately retarded  and  advanced  through  the  ef- 
forts of  four  individuals.  The  jealousy  of  Rome, 
excited  to  its  highest  pitch  by  the  eloquence  of 
the  elder  Cato,.  resulted,  146  B.C.,  in  the  annihi- 
lation of  Carthage,  an  industrial  centre  whence 
for  five  centuries  had  radiated  toward  the  in- 
terior of  Africa  peaceful  and  commercial  influ- 
ences. Eight  centuries  later  the  hordes  of  the 
Arabian  Caliph  Omar  in  turn  overwhelmed  the 
Roman  colony  at  Alexandria,  destroying  forever 
its  literary  influence  by  the  burning  of  its  great 
library. 

Conversely  the  missionary  labors  of  David 
Livingstone,  from  1849  to  1873,  inculcated  peace- 
ful methods  and  cultivated  moral  tendencies 
destined  to  introduce  Christianity  and  develop 
civilization.  Not  only  did  Livingstone,  in  the 
eloquent  words  of  Stanley,  "  weave  by  his  jour- 
neys the  figure  (jf  his  Redeemer's  cross  on  the 


350  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

map  of  Africa,  but,  scattering  ever  his  Master's 
words  and  patterning  his  life  after  the  Master 
stamped  the  story  of  the  cross  on  the  hearts  of 
every  African  tribe  he  visited." 

Initiating  routes  of  travel,  suggesting  new 
commercial  fields,  and  organizing  stable  forms 
of  government,  came  a  man  of  harder  metal,  of 
indomitable  will  and  courage,  Henry  M.  Stanley, 
who  merits  the  title  of  Stanley  Africanus. 

A  Welshman  by  nativity,  born  near  Denbigh, 
in  1840,  he  came  to  the  United  States  at  the  age 
of  sixteen  and  thenceforth  cast  his  lot  with 
America,  and  as  a  citizen  of  this  country  made 
his  explorations  under  its  flag.  It  is  reputed 
that  he  exchanged  his  natal  name  of  Rowlands 
for  that  of  Henry  M.  Stanley,  for  a  merchant 
of  New  Orleans  who  adopted  him ;  but  in  any 
event  his  early  life  was  passed  without  the  lov- 
ing and  modifying  influences  of  a  home,  his 
youth  almost  equally  destitute  of  those  adventi- 
tious surroundings  that  properly  mould  the  char- 
acter and  insure  opportunities  for  success  to 
young  men.  Thus  he  stands  forth  a  self-made 
man  to  whom  strength  has  been  accorded  to 
develop  the  manhood  that  God  implanted  in  his 
soul. 

Stern  experiences  in  the  American  civil  war, 
brief  life  in  the  far  West,  and  special  service  in 
Turkey  had  shaped  Stanley  into  a  reliant,  self- 
contained  man  when  his  first  African  journey 
came  to  him,  in  1868,  through  assignment  as 
newspaper  correspondent  to  accompany  the 
British  army  in  its   invasion   of  Abyssinia.     He 


STANLEY  AFRICAN  US  351 

participated  in  this  wonderful  campaign,  which 
led  him  four  hundred  miles  through  a  country 
of  indescribable  wildness  and  grandeur,  across 
rugged  mountains,  along  deep  valleys,  up  to  the 
fortress-crowned  crest  of  Magdala,  ten  thousand 
feet  above  the  sea. 

Difficult  as  were  the  mountains  of  Abyssinia, 
they  were  less  dangerous  than  the  African  region 
later  to  be  traversed  by  him  ;  a  journey  unsought, 
but  which  came  to  him  as  the  fittest  man  for  the 
time  and  service. 

A  telegram  and  five  hours'  preparation  carried 
Stanley  from  the  blood-red  fields  of  revolutionary 
Spain  into  the  famous  search  journey  that  gave 
to  an  anxious  world  news  of  the  long-lost  Liv- 
ingstone. For  twenty  years  this  great  Scotch 
missionary  had  carried  the  gospel  of  Christ  and 
its  civilizing  influences  from  one  end  of  Africa  to 
the  other ;  once  he  had  crossed  the  continent  in 
its  greatest  breadth,  and  now,  vanished  from  the 
sight  of  the  civilized  world  in  his  renewed  mis- 
sionary labors,  for  two  years  his  very  existence 
had  been  problematical. 

The  search  expedition  owed  its  inception  and 
maintenance  to  James  Gordon  Bennett,  Jr.,  whose 
brief  orders  to  Stanlc}'  were:  "  Find  Livingstone 
and  bring  news  of  his  discoveries  or  proofs  of 
his  death,  regardless  of  expense."  The  personnel, 
methods,  and  arrangements  devolved  entirely  on 
Stanley,  but  his  preliminary  route  was  to  lie 
through  certain  countries.  It  thus  occurred 
that  between  Madrid,  his  starting  point,  and 
Ujiji,  on  Lake  Tanganyika,  the  camp  of  Living- 


352 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


stone,  he  saw  the  gay  ties  of  Paris  ;  was  present  at 
the  eventful  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal  that  revo- 
lutionized Eastern  commerce ;  ascended  the  Low- 
er Nile  to  scrutinize  with  interested  eye  Baker's 
prospective  expedition  to  the  Soudan;  divined 
under  the  mosques  of  the  Bosphorus  the  political 


Livingstone 


riddles  of  Sultan  and  Khedive ;  examined  the 
uncovered  foundations  of  Solomon's  Temple  in 
the  Holy  City ;  meditated  over  the  historic 
battle-grounds  of  the  Crimea ;  penetrated  the 
Caucasus  to  Tiflis  for  news  of  the  Russian  expe- 
dition to  Khiva ;  and,  traversing  Persia  through 
the  Euphratan  cradle  of  the  human  race,  entered 
India,  whence  his  route  lay  to  Zanzibar  and  the 


STANLEY  AFRICANUS  353 

dark  beyond.  What  a  contrast  those  preliminary 
journeys  afforded,  across  effete  countries  whose 
var3-ing  and  recorded  phases  of  civilization  are 
contemporaneous  with  the  history  of  the  human 
race,  to  the  threshold  of  a  vast  region  whose 
barbaric  freshness  is  such  that  its  entire  history 
lies  within  the  memory  of  living  man. 

Stanley  landed  at  Zanzibar,  January  lo,  1871, 
and,  fortunately,  was  at  once  impressed  with  his 
ignorance  of  outfitting,  which  he  thought  he  had 
learned  from  books.  Resorting  to  the  Arab 
traders  he  proved  such  an  apt  pupil  and  skilful 
organizer  that  he  enlisted  twenty-seven  soldiers, 
gathered  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  carriers 
and  five  special  employees,  which,  with  two 
white  assistants,  Farquhar  and  Shaw,  made  his 
aggregate  force  one  hundred  and  ninety-two. 
He  had  his  African  money — beads  as  copper 
coins,  cloth  as  silver,  and  brass  rods  as  gold  ; 
canvas-covered  boats  for  navigation  ;  asses  and 
horses  for  special  work ;  fine  cloth  for  tribute  to 
local  chiefs,  which,  with  tentage,  medicine,  etc., 
made  some  six  tons  of  freight. 

March  21,  i87i,the  rear  guard  marched  out  of 
Bagamoyo,  the  town  on  the  mainland  opposite 
Zanzibar,  and  taking  a  route  never  before  trav- 
elled by  a  white  man,  Stanley  reached  Simbam- 
wenni  in  fourteen  marches,  the  journey  of  one 
hundred  and  nineteen  miles  having  occupied 
twenty-nine  days,  during  which  the  commander 
came  to  fully  realize  the  difficulty  of  his  undertak- 
ing, the  inefficiency  of  unpractised  subordinates, 
and  the  uncertain  loyalty  of  carriers. 


354  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

The  onward  march  resembled  all  in  Africa: 
thorns  and  jungle  to  wound  the  naked  carriers, 
rivers  to  be  forded  or  crossed  on  almost  imprac- 
ticable bridges,  swamps  many  miles  in  length 
and  so  miry  as  to  tax  the  utmost  strength  and 
energy  of  man  and  ass,  insolence  and  exactions 
of  local  potentates,  thefts  by  natives,  desertions 
of  carriers,  the  oft-recurring  fever,  and  occasion- 
ally a  death. 

The  20th  of  May,  Stanley  was  at  Mpwapwa 
(Mbambwa),  delighted  physically  at  its  fair  as- 
pect and  upland  picturesqueness,  but  mentally 
anxious  over  Farquhar,  whom  he  left  here  sick, 
and  the  loss  of  his  asses,  which  he  fortunately 
was  able  to  replace  by  twelve  carriers.  He 
reached,  on  June  22d,  Unyanyembe,  after  a  de- 
vious journey  of  five  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
to  cover  an  air-line  distance  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty.  Here  had  just  arrived  a  relief  caravan 
for  Livingstone,  which  had  left  Zanzibar  four 
months  prior  to  Stanley's.  Near  by,  at  Tabora, 
the  chief  Arabian  town  of  central  Africa,  Stanley 
was  surprised  to  find  the  Arabs  at  war  with  a 
savage  chief,  Mirambo,  thus  barring  the  usually 
travelled  road  to  Ujiji. 

Here  Stanley  lost  three  months,  and  partici- 
pated in  an  unsuccessful  campaign  with  the 
Arabs  against  Mirambo,  vainly  hoping  that  thus 
his  road  would  be  opened.  Five  of  his  men  were 
killed  in  the  war,  others  deserted,  so  that  only 
eleven  carriers  remained,  and  altogether  his 
prospects  of  success  steadily  diminished. 

Despairing  of  the  old  route,  Stanle}^  having 


STAIiLEY  AFRICANUS 


355 


with  great  difficulty  recruited  his  force  of  car- 
riers, decided  to  try  a  circuitous  trail  to  the 
south  in  order  to  reach  Ujiji,  which  lay  to  the 
northwest.  Failure  and  destruction  were  pre- 
dicted, but  with  confidence  in  himself  Stanley, 
on  September  20th,  marched  on  with  Shaw  and 


Map  showing  Position  and   Boundaries  of  the  Congo  State. 


fifty-six  others.  Illness  caused  him  to  soon  send 
back  Shaw,  his  only  white  companion ;  frequent 
desertions  weakened  his  force ;  an  incipient  mu- 
tiny of  his  panic-stricken  men  on  the  Gombe 
River  threatened  complete  destruction  to  the 
party ;  insolent  chiefs  exacted  extortionate  trib- 
ute ;  desert  marches  without  water  and  scant  food 


356  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

discouraged  and  weakened  the  men;  but  the 
leader  pushed  on  with  unflagging  energy  despite 
every  obstacle.  His  route  lay  through  Igonda, 
Itende,  the  beautiful  country  of  Uvinsa,  across 
rocky  Uhha  to  the  Malagarazi  River,  where  his 
heart  was  gladdened  by  rumors  from  the  natives 
that  a  white  man  had  lately  arrived  at  Ujiji 
from  M  any  u  em  a. 

Pushing  on  with  feverish  haste,  on  November 
9,  1 87 1,  he  had  the  indescribable  joy  of  looking 
down  on  magnificent  Lake  Tangan3'ika,  and  on 
the  following  day,  with  his  gigantic  guide,  As- 
mani,  proudly  striding  in  advance  with  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  as  his  standard,  Stanley  marched  into 
Ujiji,  and  there  accomplished  his  mission  by 
meeting  Livingstone  and  ascertaining  the  results 
of  his  late  labors.  Livingstone's  primary  mission 
— the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade  by  means  of 
civilizing  influences — had  not  materially  pro- 
gressed, but  he  had  strong  hopes  of  the  future. 
Geographically,  however,  he  had  been  most  suc- 
cessful, having  made  important  discoveries  in 
the  water-sheds  of  Lakes  Tanganyika  and  the  Ny- 
anzas,  and  found  an  unknown  river,  the  Lualaba, 
which  in  a  later  exploration  Stanley  proved  to 
be  the  Upper  Congo. 

Stanley  found  Livingstone  with  only  five  car- 
riers and  without  means  of  trade.  Supplying  all 
deficiencies  from  his  own  stores,  he  assisted  Liv- 
ingstone in  his  exploration  of  Lake  Tanganyika, 
and  the  twain  returned  together  to  Unyanyembe. 
In  the  meantime  both  Farquhar  and  Shaw  died, 
and  Stanley,  turning  over  his  surplus  stores  to 


STANLEY  AFRIGANUS  357 

Livingstone,  bade  him  farewell  and  God-speed, 
and  started  for  Zanzibar.  On  March  14,  1872, 
eight  weeks  later,  Stanley  was  again  enjo3'ing 
civilization  at  Bagamoyo,  while  Livingstone  was 
awaiting  means  of  returning  to  his  life-task,  soon 
to  be  ended  by  his  death  among  the  tribes  he 
loved,  for  "  Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this, 
that  a  man  lay  down  his  life  for  his  friends." 

Over  four  months  of  intercourse  with  Living- 
stone steadily  increased  Stanley's  admiration  for 
this  great  man.  He  describes  him  as  a  high- 
spirited,  brave,  impetuous,  and  enthusiastic  man, 
with  these  qualities  so  tempered  by  his  deep, 
abiding  spirit  of  religion  as  to  make  him  a  most 
extraordinary  character.  In  all  his  relations  with 
his  servants,  with  the  natives,  and  with  Mo- 
hammedans, Christianity  appeared  in  its  loveliest 
and  most  potent  forms,  constant,  sincere,  chari- 
table, loving,  modest,  and  always  practical.  It 
was  this  abiding  faith  in  God  which  made  Liv- 
ingstone a  man  of  unfailing  devotion  to  his  sense 
of  present  duty,  of  wondrous  patience,  unvarying 
gentleness,  constant  hopefulness,  and  unwearied 
fidelity — qualities  which  made  his  missionary 
work  in  Africa  unprecedentedly  successful. 

Abuse,  misrepresentation,  and  incredulity 
from  geographic  societies,  critics,  and  press 
greeted  Stanley's  account  of  his  discovery  of 
Livingstone,  and  only  gradually  did  his  tradu- 
cers  yield  to  the  convincing  evidences  of  his 
astonishing  success. 

Turning  to  his  old  work,  Stanley,  in  the  winter 
of  1873-74,  again  entered  Africa,  accompanying 


358  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

as  newspaper  correspondent  the  British  army, 
which  invaded  to  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and 
forty  miles  the  deadly  marshes  of  the  Ashantee 
Kingdom,  and  destroyed  its  capital  city,  Coo- 
massie. 

When  the  death  of  Livingstone  brought  Af- 
rica into  prominence  again,  Stanley,  believing 
he  could  complete  so  much  of  the  missionary's 
work  as  concerned  exploration,  turned  thither  at 
the  head  of  an  expedition  under  the  auspices  of 
the  London  Telegraph  and  the  New  York  Herald, 
the  object  being  the  survey  of  the  lacustrine 
system  at  the  head  of  the  White  Nile  and  a 
journey  thence  westward  across  the  continent. 

Leaving  Bagamoyo,  November  17,  1874,  Stan- 
ley reached  Lake  Victoria  Nyanza  in  March, 
1875,  his  journey  of  seven  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  being  marked  by  pestilential  fevers,  strug- 
gles through  thorny  jungles,  and  scant  food  and 
water.  Circumnavigating  the  lake,  he  found  it 
to  be  over  four  thousand  feet  above  the  ocean, 
while  its  proportions — nearly  twenty-two  thou- 
sand miles  in  area  and  in  places  over  five  hun- 
dred feet  deep — assumed  those  of  an  inland  sea. 
Here  Mtesa,  a  powerful  and  able  negro  king,  of 
Mohammedan  faith,  proved  most  friendly  and 
greatl}^  aided  him,  furnishing  an  escort,  which 
enabled  Stanley  to  explore  a  part  of  the  adjacent 
mountain  region.  From  Ujiji  he  then  explored 
Lake  Tanganyika,  finding  it  to  be  about  half  the 
size  of  Victoria,  with  an  elevation  of  about  twen- 
ty-seven hundred  feet. 

Important  as  were  these  discoveries  they  paled 


STANLEY  AFRIGANUS 


359 


before  others,  made  in  following  the  Lualaba 
River  of  Livingstone,  which  changed  the  map 
of  Central  x\frica    and    altered   the    destinv    of 


'^m 


^M^'     ^jA||||||| 


Tippu   Tib, 


that  vast  and  untraversed  region.  The  journey 
to  Nyangwe,  Livingstone's  "  farthest,"  entailed 
horrible  hardships  on  the  carriers.  This  Arab 
village   was  reached    via  the   Luama,  which,  of 


360      EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

hitherto  unknown  course,  was  found  by  Stanley 
to  be  an  affluent  of  the  Lualaba.  At  N3^angwe 
Stanley  felt  that  his  accomplished  journey  of 
over  eight  hundred  miles  from  the  east  coast 
promised  well  for  his  coming  voyage  to  a  known 
point  on  the  other  coast,  nine  hundred  miles 
due  west.  He  made  an  agreement  with  an  Arab, 
Tippu-Tib,  trader  in  human  flesh  or  ivory  as 
chance  offered,  to  escort  the  expedition  about 
six  hundred  miles  west  through  the  unknown 
regions.  The  country  proved  to  be  primeval 
forest,  almost  trackless,  its  tropical  undergrowth 
a  veritable  jungle  of  thorns  and  vines.  Game 
was  scanty  and  other  food  equally  so.  Finally, 
progress  was  so  slow  and  the  path  so  devious 
that  Stanley,  yielding  to  his  appeals,  discharged 
Tippu-Tib  and  decided  to  descend  the  river 
by  canoes  and  his  frame  boat.  He  embarked 
at  Vinya  Njara,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty 
in  his  party,  on  December  28,  1876,  intrust- 
ing himself  with  sublime  audacity  to  a  river 
flowing  no  one  knew  whither,  save  it  was  away 
from  civilization,  and  with  the  knowledge  that 
the  country  they  were  entering  was  peopled  by 
tribes  entirely  hostile  and  intractable,  as  the 
slave-traders  said.  Day  after  day  they  drifted 
steadily  to  the  north.  Was  it  or  was  it  not  the 
Nile  of  Livingstone's  prediction  ?  Then  day  by 
day  the  course  trended  to  the  east.  Yes,  it  could 
only  be  the  Nile.  After  two  hundred  and  forty 
miles  the  trend  was  to  the  northwest,  whither, 
week  after  week,  for  about  three  hundred  miles  it 
kept  its  puzzling  flow  toward  a  point  of  the  com- 


STANLEY  AFRICANUS  361 

pass  where  it  could  join  no  river  known  to  man. 
It  had,  too,  assumed  proportions  and  volume  truly 
Amazonic,  filled  with  islands  and  swollen  from 
one  to  seven  miles  in  width.  i\ll  efforts  to  gain 
a  knowledge  of  its  final  course  were  then  fruit- 
less, for  the  few  barbarous  natives  they  could 
win  to  speech  answered  in  uncouth  jargon, 
scarcely  intelligible  to  the  interpreters :  "  It  is 
the  river  —  the  river!"  The  terrors  of  the  si- 
lent stream  in  its  majestic  solitude  were  almost 
preferable  to  the  presence  of  populous  villages, 
which  here  and  there  lined  its  banks,  for  the  in- 
habitants, ferociously  hostile  for  the  greater 
part,  refused  trade  and  boldly  assaulted  them. 
Skilful  canoemen  and  good  archers,  the  savages 
slaughtered  unwary  stragglers,  harassed  the 
rear  and  attacked  the  front,  while  their  horrible 
threats  that  the  bodies  of  the  slain  should  serve 
as  food  at  their  cannibalistic  repasts  instilled 
terror  in  the  minds  of  many  of  Stanley's  follow- 
ers. Skirmishes  were  frequent,  and  now  and 
then  a  severe  fight  which  taxed  Stanley's  forces 
to  the  utmost.  Again  the  river  had  here  and 
there  series  of  cataracts  which  caused  no  end  of 
trouble,  delay,  and  danger  to  the  party,  nine  men 
being  drowned  in  one  day. 

Fortunately  the  river  had  turned  to  the  south, 
and  then  to  southwest,  where,  after  another 
thousand  miles,  it  flowed  through  a  narrow 
gorge,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  sea, 
so  that  no  doubt  longer  obtained  as  to  it  being 
the  Congo.  The  terrible  falls  near  the  gorge 
entailed  enormous  labor  to  pass  them,  and  barely 


362  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

failed  of  destroying  the  party.  In  all  twenty- 
eight  cataracts  were  passed,  and  finally  the  river 
became  so  precipitous,  the  falls  so  high,  that  they 
had  to  abandon  their  boats  and  march  overland 
to  Boma,  an  English  trading  -  post,  five  days' 
journey  distant.  Fatigue,  famine,  and  exposure 
further  enfeebled  them  and  now  made  daily  in- 
roads among  the  ranks  of  those  who  had  so  far 
survived,  and  the  entire  party  would  have  per- 
ished on  the  very  threshold  of  civilization  and 
plenty  had  not  Stanley's  messengers,  sent  on 
with  urgent  appeals,  obtained  help  at  Boma, 
where  the  expeditionary  force  arrived  August 
12,  1877.  They  had  made  a  river  journey  of 
seven  thousand  miles,  proved  the  Congo  to  be 
second  only  to  the  Nile,  and  crossed  Africa. 

When  Stanley,  in  1877,  intrusting  his  life  and 
fortunes  to  a  mighty  and  unknown  stream,  voy- 
aged toward  the  very  heart  of  the  Dark  Con- 
tinent, even  his  wildest  dreams  could  not  have 
foreshadowed  results  equal  to  the  reality  of  a 
near  future.  His  voyage  in  its  potentiality  was 
second  only  to  that  of  Columbus,  as  the  outcome 
of  the  succeeding  five  years  plainly  indicates. 
All  Europe,  alive  to  the  commercial  importance 
of  the  Congo  Basin,  hastened  to  reach  its  borders 
or  encroach  on  its  limits  by  means  of  enlarged 
dependent  colonies ;  commerce  and  religion, 
hand  in  hand,  traversed  its  rivers  by  steam  and 
lined  its  banks  with  beneficent  settlements,  while 
the  merciless  Arab  devastated  its  villages  and 
dragged  its  decimated  natives  into  slavery. 
Then    came   a  political  wonder  —  the   peaceful 


STANLE Y  A  FlilCANUS 


3G3 


creation  of  a  vast  tropical  empire  more  than  a 
million  square  miles    in  area,  the    Congo    Free 


^- 


State,  erected  and  admitted  into  the  community 
of  nations  by  act  of  an  international  conference, 
in  which  participated  fourteen  European  powers 
and   the   United   States,  our  own  country  being 


364  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

fittingly  the  first  to  officially  acknowledge  the 
existence  of  the  new  state  its  adventurous  citizen 
had  given  to  the  world. 

The  voyage  through  the  Dark  Continent  was 
obviously  potent  of  future  results,  and  Gam- 
betta,  in  1878,  clearly  forecast  the  effects  of 
Stanley's  journey.  The  great  French  statesman 
said  :  "  Not  only  have  you  opened  up  a  new  con- 
tinent to  our  view,  but  you  have  given  influence 
to  scientific  and  philanthropic  enterprises  which 
will  have  its  effect  on  the  progress  of  the  world. 
What  you  have  done  has  interested  governments 
—proverbially  so  difficult  to  move — and  the  im- 
pulse you  have  imparted,  I  am  convinced,  will 
go  on  year  after  year." 

Slowly  recovering  from  the  effects  of  famine 
and  fatigue  incident  to  this  arduous  journey, 
Stanley  returned  to  Europe  in  January,  1878, 
and  was  met,  as  he  stepped  out  of  the  express 
train  at  Marseilles,  by  two  commissioners  of 
King  Leopold  of  Belgium,  who  informed  him 
that  his  Majesty  contemplated  a  new  enterprise 
in  Africa  and  desired  his  assistance.  While 
heartily  indorsing  the  proposed  work  of  Leo- 
pold his  physical  condition  was  such  that  active 
co-operation  was  impossible,  and  he  was  even 
unable  to  visit  his  Majesty.  Five  months  later, 
with  physical  energies  renewed,  after  a  visit 
to  Leopold,  Stanley  eventually  agreed  to  the 
proposition  which  contemplated  the  establish- 
ment of  a  grand  commercial  enterprise  for  con- 
trolling the  trade  of  the  valley  of  the  Congo.  It 
involved   the  erection  of  commercial  and  mili- 


STANLEY  AFRICANUS  365 

tary  stations  along  the  overland  route  and  the 
establishment  of  steam  communication  wherever 
available.  In  short,  a  colony  of  Europeans  was 
to  be  founded  in  the  Congo  Basin,  whose  great 
fertility,  healthy  climate,  and  enormous  popu- 
lation seemed  to  especially  favor  the  develop- 
ment of  African  civilization.  The  action  of 
Leopold  evidently  grew  out  of  Stanley's  decla- 
rations that  "  the  question  of  this  mighty  water- 
way (the  Congo)  will  become  a  political  one 
in  time,"  and  his  conviction  that  any  power 
possessing  the  Congo  would  absorb  the  whole 
enormous  trade  behind,  as  this  river  was  and 
must  continue  to  be,  the  grand  commercial  high- 
way of  West  and  Central  Africa. 

Stanley  accepted  the  mission,  visited  Zanzi- 
bar, where  he  enlisted  sixty-eight  Zanzibari, 
mostly  his  old  soldiers,  and  by  sea  reached 
Banana  Point,  on  the  west  coast,  August  14, 
1879.  Two  years  previous  he  had  reached  this 
place  after  descending  the  newly  discovered 
Congo ;  now  he  was  re-entering  its  fertile  basin 
in  order  to  establish  civilized  settlements,  with 
the  intention  of  subduing  Central  Africa  by 
peaceful  ways  and  to  remould  it  into  harmony 
with  modern  ideas,  so  that  justice  and  order 
should  ever  obtain,  violence  and  the  slave  trade 
forever  cease. 

He  returned  to  Europe  in  1882,  his  success  far 
exceeding  the  expectations  of  the  committee. 
In  this  time,  with  the  aid  of  sixty-eight  Zanzibari 
and  a  few  Europeans,  he  had  constructed  three 
trading-stations,  launched  a  steamer  on  the  Up- 


366 


EXPLORERS  AND    TRAVELLERS 


Finding  Nelson    in   Distress  at  Starvation   Camp. 

per  Congo,  established  steam  communication  be- 
tween Leopoldville  and  Stanley  Pool,  and  also 
constructed  wagon-roads  between  Vivi  and  Isan- 
gila,  Manyanga  and  Stanley  Pool.  He  pointed 
out  to  the  committee  the  imperative  necessity  of 
a  railroad  between  the  Lower  and  Upper  Congo 
in  order  to  preserve  uninterrupted  communica- 


STANLEY  AFRICANUS  367 

tion,  which  scheme  was  approved  by  the  com- 
mittee provided  Stanley  would  take  charge  of 
the  work.  Although  his  health  was  impaired, 
he  agreed  to  return  to  the  Congo  and  complete 
the  establishment  of  stations  as  far  as  Stanley 
Falls,  which  he  duly  accomplished,  not  leaving 
Africa  until  there  wgre  five  promising  trading- 
posts —  Vivi,  Leopoldville,  Kinshassa  (Stanley 
Pool),  Equator,  and  Stanley  Falls,  the  last  about 
two  thousand  miles  inland  from  the  west  coast. 

On  Stanley's  return  to  Europe  the  question  of 
organizing  the  basin  of  the  Congo  into  an  inde- 
pendent state  was  agitated.  As  a  result  fourteen 
of  the  European  powers  and  the  United  States 
united  in  a  conference  at  Berlin  and  formally 
agreed,  on  February  26,  1885,  that  the  entire 
Congo  Basin  should  be  erected  into  a  nation  to 
be  known  as  the  Congo  Free  State.  Thus  less 
than  eight  years  after  Stanley's  famous  journey 
he  beheld  the  country  that  his  genius  had  res- 
cued from  oblivious  darkness  erected  into  a 
new  state  and  admitted  into  the  community  of 
nations. 

The  last  journey  of  Stanley  into  Africa  was 
for  the  rescue  of  the  Egyptian  governor  of 
Equatoria,  Edward  Schnitzer,  a  German  by 
birth,  better  known  as  Emin  Pasha.  On  the 
death  of  General  Gordon,  by  whom  he  was  ap- 
pointed governor,  Emin  had  been  left  to  his  fate 
at  Wadelai  by  the  Egyptian  authorities,  from 
which  point  he  wrote  on  December  31,  1885,  say- 
ing that  for  nineteen  months  he  had  been  for- 
gotten  and   abandoned.      On  July   6,    1886,    he 


368  EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 

wrote  beseeching-  help.  In  this  contingency  the 
sum  of  £21,^00  was  raised — ^10,000  from  the 
Egyptian  Government,  the  rest  subscribed  in 
England — for  the  expenses  of  a  relief  party,  and 
all  eyes  turned  to  Stanley  as  the  natural  leader. 
He  was  engaged  in  a  very  profitable  lecturing 
tour  in  the  United  States  when  the  expedition 
was  finally  decided  on.  Three  days  after  the 
receipt  of  a  cablegram  that  his  plans  were  ac- 
cepted, Stanley  sailed  for  Africa  via  England, 
using  such  despatch  that  he  had  his  expedition 
of  680  men,  61  being  Soudanese  soldiers,  ready 
to  leave  Zanzibar  on  February  25,  1887. 

Stanley  decided  to  make  the  journey  by  ves- 
sel around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  the  Congo, 
by  which  river  he  expected  to  get  within  200 
miles  of  Lake  Albert.  The  co-operation  of  the 
infamous  Arab  trader,  Tippu  Tib,  the  most  pow- 
erful trader  in  Africa,  was  obtained  by  making 
him  governor  of  Stanley  Falls,  in  the  Congo 
Free  State. 

Following  the  Congo  to  the  Aruwimi,  Stanley 
turned  up  that  stream  and  camped  at  Yambuya, 
about  sixty  miles  above  the  mouth  and  over 
one  thousand  three  hundred  miles  from  the  sea. 
To  this  point  he  had  lost  57  men,  and  now  di- 
vided his  forces  as  follows :  Advance  guard, 
under  himself,  389;  Yambuya  garrison,  129, 
under  Major  Barttelot;  other  supporting  guards 
in  rear,  131  ;  original  force,  706. 

On  January  28,  1887,  Stanley  started  for  Lake 
Albert,  330  miles  distant  in  an  air  line,  through 
an  entirely  unknown  country.     It  proved  to  be 


STANLEY  AFRICANUS  369 

a  virgin  forest,  the  greatest  of  the  world, 
through  which  a  path  had  to  be  cut  almost  the 
entire  distance.  For  one  hundred  and  sixty  days 
they  marched  through  an  almost  unbroken  forest- 
bush,  jungle,  marsh,  and  creek.  The  scattered 
villages,  filled  with  barbarous  and  hostile  tribes, 
were  abandoned  at  their  approach ;  poisoned 
skewers,  covered  with  green  leaves,  were  planted 
in  the  paths,  and  twice  the  party  was  attacked. 

On  October  6th  affairs  came  to  a  crisis,  as  pro- 
visions had  failed,  save  scanty  wild  plants  ;  many, 
stricken  with  disease,  including  Stairs,  one  of  the 
officers,  could  go  no  farther.  No  less  than  one 
hundred  and  twenty-six  men  had  been  lost  by 
death  and  desertion,  about  half  from  each  cause, 
and  all  must  perish  unless  the  party  divided. 
Stanley  left  Nelson  and  52  men  in  camp  on  Ituri 
River,  about  1°  5'  N.,  28°  30'  E.,  and  started 
ahead  for  relief.  After  terrible  privation,  and 
nearly  perishing  of  starvation  on  the  way,  they 
reached  Ipoto,  October  17th,  where  food  was 
purchased  from  the  natives.  As  soon  as  possible 
Jephson,  Stanley's  able  and  loyal  assistant,  re- 
turned to  Nelson's  relief  and  brought  him  and 
three  men  to  Ipoto,  nine  carriers  having  died 
and  forty  deserted.  December  4th,  Stanley  with 
175  men  emerged  from  the  forest  and  nine  days 
later  reached  Lake  Albert,  whence  Wadelai, 
Emin's  station,  was  distant  four  days'  journey 
by  water,  or  twenty-five  by  land. 

Finding  no  boats  on  Lake  Albert,  Stanley  was 
obliged  to  retreat  from  its  desolate  shores  west- 
ward to  a  fertile  region,  where  he  built  Fort 
24 


370 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


Bodo  and  planted  crops,  while  a  detachment 
brought  up  his  steel  boat,  in  which  Jephson 
reached  M'swa  and  was  met,  on  April  26,  1888, 
by  Emin,  who  had  been  notified  by  Stanley's  na- 
tive courier.  Two  days  later  Emin  and  Stanley 
met  at  Lake  Albert,  when  propositions  and  plans 


■■'-■'Mr.-i-:-' 


a  photograph.) 


as  to  Emin's    movements  were  made   and    dis- 
cussed with  no  definite  results. 

The  equation  of  Emin's  character  seems  to 
have  been  best  stated  by  Vita  Hassan,  his  friend- 
ly subordinate  for  twenty  years,  who  considers 
Emin's  many  virtues  as  those  of  a   missionary 


STANLEY  AFRICAXUS  371 

rather  than  of  a  governor  or  commander,  and  at- 
tributes his  infirmity  of  indecision  to  innate  good- 
ness of  heart.  It  was  nine  months  before  Emin, 
his  army  mutinous,  himself  and  Jephson  impris- 
oned, with  death  as  an  alternative,  decided  to  re- 
turn with  Stanley  to  Zanzibar. 

In  the  meanwhile  Stanley,  anxious  as  to  his 
rear  guard,  returned  through  the  dreaded  forest 
hoping  from  day  to  day  to  meet  it,  but  saw  no 
signs  until  he  reached  Banalya,  on  the  Aruwimi, 
a  few  miles  from  where  he  had  left  it.  Here  he 
found  it  in  a  state  of  inactivity  and  disorganiza- 
tion, its  chief.  Major  Barttelot,  murdered  by  a  na- 
tive, Jameson  and  one  hundred  and  two  out  of  the 
original  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  dead,  and 
twenty-six  deserted.  Again  the  journey  through 
the  forest  and  its  hostile  tribes  to  Lake  x\lbert, 
where  Stanley  with  the  hesitating  Emin  Pasha  and 
his  followers  started  for  Zanzibar  on  April  i,  1889. 

The  return  journey,  made  as  far  as  Lake  Vic- 
toria Nyanza  over  unknown  ground,  resulted 
in  the  discovery  of  Mount  Ruwenzori,  a  snow- 
clad  peak  under  the  Equator,  estimated  to  be 
seventeen  thousand  feet  high.  Moreover,  of 
vastly  more  importance,  Stanley  ascertained  that 
Lake  Albert  Nyanza  through  the  Semliki  River, 
drained  a  large  lake,  named  Albert  Edward,  thus 
determining  the  secret  of  the  long-sought  and 
ever  retreating  source  of  the  White  Nile.  Small 
streams  feed  Lake  Albert  Edward  from  the  south, 
whose  extreme  limit  is  placed  by  Stanley  in  1° 
10'  S.  latitude. 

December  4,  1889,  found  the  party  arrived  at 


372 


EXPLORERS  AND   TRAVELLERS 


Ruwenzori  (The   Snowy   Mountain)    identified   by  Stanley  with   "the   Mountains  of 

the   Moon." 

Ascended   10,677   feet  above  sea-level  by  Lieutenant  Stairs.     Total  height  about 

16,600  feet. 

(From  a  drawing  by  Mr.  Stanley,  made  at  the  time  of  the  discovery.) 


Bagamoyo,  the  coast  town  opposite  Zanzibar. 
The  work  which  Stanley  was  sent  to  do,  as  all 
other  tasks  assumed  by  this  great  explorer,  was 
ended,  and  Emin  Pasha  once  more  looked  on  the 
faces  of  his  countrymen. 


STANLEY  AFRICAN  US  373 

Crowned  with  highest  honors  from  all  the 
powers  of  Europe,  no  tribute,  as  Stanley  has 
said,  gave  such  gratification  as  that  from  the 
United  States,  which,  proud  of  the  achievements 
of  its  great  citizen,  extended  to  him  the  unprece- 
dented honors  of  its  official,  well-considered,  and 
merited  commendation,  wherein,  under  date  of 
Februar}'  7,  1878,  it  was  "  Resolved,  by  the  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives  in  Congress  as- 
sembled, That,  regarding  with  just  pride  the 
achievements  of  their  countryman,  Henry  M. 
Stanley,  the  distinguished  explorer  of  Central 
Africa,  the  thanks  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  are  eminently  due  and  are  hereby  tendered 
him  as  a  tribute  to  his  extraordinary  patience, 
prudence,  fortitude,  enterprise,  courage,  and 
capacity  in  solving  by  his  researches  many  of 
the  most  important  geographical  problems  of 
our  age  and  globe,  problems  of  a  continental 
scope,  involving  the  progress  of  our  kind  in  com- 
merce,  science,  and  civilization." 


THE    END. 


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